“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

How are you sleeping lately? Are you replaying old grudges?

Did you know that people who have learned how to forgive usually sleep better than those who hold grudges?

I ran across this article recently from Greater Good Magazine and it offers an explanation Here’s a quote:

Forgiveness of self and others “may help individuals leave the past day’s regrets and offenses in the past and offer an important buffer between the events of the waking day and the onset and maintenance of sound sleep,” wrote the researchers, led by Luther College professor Loren Toussaint. Otherwise, as many troubled sleepers have experienced, we might have too much on our minds to get any rest.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? When I hold grudges those nasty feelings of resentment and anger seem to come out to play the minute I close my eyes.

Does that happen to you, too? Perhaps sleeplessness is a spiritual signal we need to pay more attention to forgiving those who hurt us. Perhaps those hours of tossing and turning are really telling us that peace will only come when we put grudges behind us.

Greater Good also offers a bit more about forgiveness. Forgiveness is a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or worse, vengeance. It’s not forgetting or denying an offense committed against us. And it’s not an obligation for reconciliation with the offender. We release our most negative feelings. We realize the damage we’re doing to ourselves and maybe even to those around us and resolve not to let them find root again.

Something to sleep on.

Sweet dreams friends!