In this episode of The Optimistic American, Paul Johnson sits down with Dr. Emily Bashah to discuss the effects of love and forgiveness on our psychological and physiological well-being. They cover topics like the numerous benefits of forgiving others, lessons from countries who endured genocide, the use of forgiveness, what the research says about forgiveness, and much more.
- Paul starts the conversation by describing the research on the physiological and psychological benefits of love and forgiveness.
- Learning to forgive is not something you do for someone else's benefit but for your own good.
- Emily reveals how non-forgiveness can negatively impact a person's existence.
- Paul and Emily go through the research on the similarities between stress and hate-motivated behavior.
- Paul shares his thoughts on the stressful nature of American politics and how people can shield themselves from toxic politics.
- What the research says about the healing nature of forgiveness and letting go of hate.
- Emily believes forgiveness does not mean wrongdoers get away with what they did to you. Forgiveness is choosing to let go of the burden of someone else's wrongdoing.
- Paul adds that forgiveness doesn't mean you're a pushover. It means you're ready to accept what happened and are willing to find a way to go on productively with your life.
- Emily and Paul discuss the lessons we can learn from Bosnia and Rwanda after their genocides about forgiveness.
- Emily highlights why it's not a good idea to let politics or ideologies come in between you and your loved ones.
- Paul reveals how freeing it felt when he learned to forgive his political rivals.
- According to Paul, forgiveness is self-healing. The act of forgiving someone often leaves you in a better position than the people you forgive.
- You don't have to give up on your values to forgive someone. You can be kind to them even though they're not treating you with the utmost kindness.
- Emily reveals how she focuses on understanding the other person before seeking to be understood when disagreements arise.
- For Paul, we live in an unfortunate environment where there is a daily barrage of negative news telling us who we should hate. This hate is creating a prolonged exposure to stress and is damaging our health and our society.
Mentioned in This Episode:
optamerican.com
Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning and Agency When Politics Fail You by Dr Emily Bashah and Hon Paul Johnson
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Dr. Emily Bashah
