In today’s episode, I discuss the power of resentment in the forgiveness process and offer 10 steps for overcoming it.

The definition of resentment comes from an article, From Ressentiment to Resentment as a Tertiary Emotion by Warren D. TenHouten published in 2018 in the Review of European Studies Volume 10, No 4.

TenHouten claims that resentment is not a primary or secondary emotion, but a tertiary emotion, “whose primary emotional components are anger, surprise and disgust, and whose secondary components are contempt, shock and outrage.” Resentment is a conglomerate of emotions.

I refer to a study by Almeida and Cunha on the physical effects of resentment and mention Dr. Caroline Leaf's work on processing emotions. 

Forgiveness is as much about mastery of our own emotions as it is about using our will in the decision to forgive. Forgiveness requires a level of maturity that allows us to recognize when our emotions are running the show, and when we are using reason to guide our actions. When resentment is driving our behavior, it’s time to take a step back and become private investigators. Get to the thoughts underneath, challenge them; decide on a course of action that produces the result you want. I hope that the result you want is healing and forgiveness.

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