Forgive and Forget?
Why do we continue to push the narrative that forgiveness is the key to happiness? Although forgiveness is often established as a crucial step toward achieving inner peace, it isn't necessary for happiness and well-being. Depending on the offense's severity and the offender's lack of remorse, holding onto negative emotions and choosing not to forgive can be a viable alternative that promotes personal well-being and empowerment for individuals. In Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, Elie focuses on the obstacles and challenges he faces while being persecuted during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a dark period in human history where millions of innocent lives were lost in the most horrendous ways imaginable. Unsurprisingly, the concept of
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Positive emotions like happiness, contentment, and joy help us develop stability and optimism, deepen social connections, and encourage a sense of purpose and meaning in life. They can give us the motivation and energy to achieve our goals, pursue our passions, and help us navigate difficult situations more quickly and confidently. Negative emotions like anger, sadness, and fear are vital. They can help us identify areas of our lives that need attention or change and motivate us to take action. Studies have shown that individuals who can acknowledge and process negative emotions in healthy and constructive ways experience greater psychological well-being and resilience. Taking time away from forgiveness can deepen our understanding of the world, giving us perspective on our challenges. Tori Rodriguez, Author of the article "Negative Emotions are Key to Well-Being," says, "Attempting to suppress thoughts can backfire and even diminish our sense of contentment." Here, author Rodriguez suggests that forgiveness can cause us to hide our negative emotions and only focus on the good instead of letting ourselves truly accept the
Never in the recorded history of all mankind has there been a larger mass murder and persecution than the holocaust. Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, author, and nobel prize winner, and wrote the book, “Night” chronicling his experiences during the holocaust. When Elie first arrives at Auschwitz he is stripped from his clothes and his former identity to work at the concentration camp. For about two years he struggled to stay alive under the intolerable conditions of the concentration camp. In the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the character Ellie was effected by selfishness, loss of humanity, and the shift in their belief in God.
Night Essay Elie Wiesel the author of “Night” was born on September 30, 1928 in the small town of Sighet in Transylvania. He lived most of his life studying Judaism, until the Germans came into their town and took all of the Jews to be sent to concentration camps. He was forced to watch his fellow people suffer through unspeakable terrors, while he had to try to survive alongside them. He also had to lose many close loved ones, without knowing where they would go or if he'd ever see them again.
If you don’t forgive someone it can haunt you for the rest of your life and may affect how you see different objects and
The Holocaust. The devastation, deportation, extermination, and starvation of millions of human beings, targeted for their creed, their heritage, and their complexion. No words can capture the magnitude of this misery, but one can only try. In his memoir, “Night”, Elie Wiesel attempts to comprehend the mass suffering and distress caused by this event. His chosen title reflects his reaction to his experience, Night, meaning absolute darkness for a period of time.
Forgiveness Must Be Within Very few people are truly happy in life, because we are all a little mad at ourselves. The only way to become truly happy is to forgive yourself. In the book night the author Elie Wiesel tells the story of what he experienced throughout the holocaust. You see how horrible it was and how his life was affected by the atrocity. Although some people say that you do not need forgiveness to be happy I disagree.
Although, not everything/everyone deserves to be forgiven, forgiveness is necessary to be genuinely happy because holding onto something will cloud your vision and overwhelm someone with emotions. If you can never let go and forgive someone, holding onto something will eat away at your happiness or even distract you from being happy. From personal experience, I once got into an argument with my best friend who I would spend everyday talking to. We were a part of each other’s daily lives and would always be there for each other. Until one day we got into a heated argument and began to
So I will confidently say, forgiveness is never necessary for long term happiness if you can learn to move on. Lots of people in our world consider themselves generally happy, now how many of them do you think have been wronged? Probably a lot, whether it was a full blown betrayal or simply having a pencil stolen,
When the results came in it showed that forgiveness was much more effective than revenge especially in studies 3 and 4. These two studies showed that study 1 where participants were required to remember a time when they forgave someone blended in where people in study 3 imagined being victimized and forgiving that said person. In study 4, it was shown that when they participated, writing a forgiving letter gave them a feeling of humanity again. This overall helped the participants mental health and made them go on a better path of
When you search for perfection it will often let you down. When you learn not everyone is perfect it will make forgiveness easier. If you make a mistake that you know hurt someone there is no better feeling than apologizing and being forgiven. A weight is lifted off your chest, and you feel free. Martin Luther King Jr. was constantly being called names and treated unfairly.
“I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It’s a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s an evolution of the heart.” (Kidd)
Furthermore, it is true that forgiving doesn’t make all wrongs okay, but forgiving is not the same as forgetting. It is possible to forgive someone, but not want to pursue a relationship with them. Executing resentment towards someone is not the same as continuing interactions with them. For example,
The Holocaust was an extremely tragic event and Elie Wiesel’s autobiographical book, “Night” does a very good job of capturing the vivid events that occurred. In this book, the main character, Eliezer must survive through both mental and physical abuse. He is forced to go days without food and water, and has to deal with the loss of his father, mother, sister and friends while in the concentration camp. Although Eliezer had to face these many horrors, the biggest thing he had to face was himself and everything that had been taken from him. After being rescued, Eliezer got sick from food poison, and spent two weeks hospitalized “in and out of death” (Wiesel 115).
When I was younger, my parents taught me the difference between forgiving and forgetting. I believe that one can forgive without forgetting. When thinking about forgiveness, the first thing that comes to mind is the quote, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”. Do me wrong the first time and I will forgive you, however, I will not forget what you did so that you cannot fool me again.
As the old saying goes, “forgive and forget”. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. However, digging deep down and finding a way to let go of the ill feelings that are created by someone’s wrong doings, or what is perceived as such, can be liberating. Harboring such anger and animosity can be nearly crippling. Freeing those negative feelings allows one to experience peace and joy that cannot be achieved with such upset in not only the head, but also the
We need to use compassion to forgive one another but can we forget the evil that has taken ahold of our society? As the Dalai Lama states remembering the past allows us to use this to bring peace for our future (DalaiLama, 129). If we forget our past there is no hope for our future. I believe allowing forgiveness allows evil to the ability to spread showing others that when you do wrong someone will forgive you and that allows it to be