Forgiveness can lead to so many positive outcomes, for you, and for others. It is about positivity, and letting go of feelings and thoughts of anger, bitterness, vengeance, among other things.
In this interview of Ladda Boonmee, life coach and award-winning public speaker, she talks about the importance of forgiving people, the benefits you might not think about, and the number one thing stopping others from forgiving.
1. What is your relationship with forgiveness?
My relationship with forgiveness is excellent. I can forgive people so easily even though some of them hurt me so badly. The reason why I can forgive easily is because I don’t want to hurt myself, and I don’t want to be bitter. I love this quote from Tony Robbins “Forgiveness is a gift you give for yourself”.
2. What are the benefits of forgiving that people might not think about?
There are so many benefits that many people might not think about:
Reducing the risk of having heart diseases,
Reducing the risk of having high blood pressure,
Reducing the risk of having migraines,
Increasing the quality time with your loved ones,
Having more time to create more positive things in life.
3. Do you think there is a limit to forgiveness, or can everything be forgiven?
I believe there is no limit to forgiveness, and yes everything can be forgiven. However, when you forgive someone, it doesn’t mean that you need to keep in touch with them. If those people are not related to you, or they won’t change to make things better for you, then you can leave. But you don’t need to carry the bitterness or resentment with you. You can leave those feeling with the people who hurt you by forgiving them.
4. What do you think is the number one thing stopping people from forgiving others?
I think one thing stopping people from forgiving others is to not be able to let go of the past. There are so many people holding on the past tightly until they forget about the present. Sometimes people who did them wrong already changed or apologized, they still could not forgive because they can’t let go the past.
5. What are some tips you can share so people can try to be more forgiving?
For me, if people who hurt me are people I love, I will write down all good things about them. I will keep writing these down until I feel better.
For people who are not my loved ones, I usually think that they don’t tend to hurt me. They just don’t know how to approach me, so I don’t need to be angry. I can forgive them easily because I believe that they just don’t know how to behave. If they knew, they wouldn’t behave that way.
6. What tools would you recommend for people who want to learn more about forgiveness?
There are so many books about forgiveness, so I don’t want to recommend a specific one because we have different perspective. I would like to recommend everyone to research, and choose the one that resonate with you.
Another thing I would like to recommend if you want to learn more about forgiveness is listening to my story from a video clip that Jeff Monnery created https://youtu.be/VZeTevfhGN4 and another one from Voice story. Here is the link https://youtu.be/5sDgBk2ZvDE
About Ladda
Ladda was transformed from a very shy girl to a multiple award winning speaker, TEDx Coach, Public speaking instructor and Voice Story Speaker. Now she is a founder of “Speak For Success”. Ladda integrated her experiences with shyness into public speaking strategy to help so many people to be more confident and to use their power on the stage.
You can connect with Ladda through her website speakforsuccess.info and social media pages:
Instagram — @krupda_ladda.boonmee
Facebook — @krupda.speakforsuccess
About the interviewer
My name is Jeff Monnery, a videographer and documentarian whose mission is to ensure people are given the choice to make positive changes toward self-empowerment. I am the founder of Spoken Out Stories, a video series about stories of people who lived a hard experience in their life, and found their way to move forward with courage, determination, and optimism.
You can connect with me through my social media pages:
Instagram — @jeffmonnery
Twitter — @jeffmonnery
Facebook — @JeffMonnery
LinkedIn — @jeffmonnery
About An Unlearning Initiative
An Unlearning Initiative is an interview series of people sharing the experience and expertise on various topics around mental health, self-empowerment, empathy, and love.
It is about giving others diverse perspectives from around the World to help unlearn misconceptions and enlighten people toward a better understanding of what is around them.
You can connect with An Unlearning Initiative through these social media pages:
Instagram — @anunlearninginitiative
Twitter — @AnUnlearning
Facebook — @anunlearninginitiative