Letting Go of Hate and Anger

We’re talking this month about how to bring more love and loving into the world. The world seems to full of divisiveness and hatred, more so than ever before. How can we bring more love into the world? How can we make this a more loving place? It starts at the level of the individual, it starts with each of us. When we hold on to hatred and anger, we are only exacerbating the problem.

When we hold on to anger or hate, we get stuck in our Lower Self, the place that is needy and fearful. If we are going to be able to bring love into the world, then we have to let go of any negative emotions that are holding us back.

As Susan wrote in Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, “We need to get rid of pain and anger before we can bring in love. When we hold negative feelings about people in our past, we carry those feelings to those in our present. Not only that, but we can make ourselves physically ill, as some of you may have already experienced.”

She recommended a technique that can help us overcome those negative emotions. “One tool that helps you visualize the other person is to ‘be in the room’ with the person you have conflict with. Imagine this person is sitting on a chair opposite you. In your mind’s eye, look them in the face and see them as someone just like you with the same fears, worries, needs and hopes.”

When you look really closely at this person you are visualizing, you will see their vulnerabilities, their humanness. When you can start to feel empathy with that person, you can begin to let go of the hate. Only then can you can begin to heal yourself, mentally and physically, to become a more loving person.