With the advent of the Internet, it’s very easy to hate other people. We might get all the hate straight on our social media, all pumped directly onto our feeds. If we already hated some people or ideas, it becomes even easier to hate them ten times more. Hate might feel good, sometimes, or at least like an experience that gives us energy. But hate also brings a lot of disadvantages. Is hate taking a toll on your life?
When you focus too much on hate, it becomes a constant drain on your time, energy, and other resources. Hate, just like anger, is a pretty intense emotion. It tends to grow bigger and bigger, to consume more and more of our daily life. How much time do you spend sharing the hate, thinking about what you hate, or dedicating time to thinking about all the worst people in the world? If it is a lot, it might be time to rethink your approach to this emotion.
Often, hate comes with a desire to do something, to punish those who are doing wrong. But rarely we can actually do this and, if we can, it will never bring the satisfaction we crave. Rather, when we dedicate hours and endless amounts of energy to hateful thoughts, we only punish ourselves. We could spend time with our family, having fun, relaxing. Instead, we keep on pushing unpleasant experiences.
Hate can also encourage you to do things you would never see yourself doing. It might make you commit hateful acts and hurt others; often those closest to you or just people caught in the crossfire. It could make you seem like a bad person to those who see you burning with hate and damage precious relationships.
Over time, the more we give to hate, the more space we make for it in our lives, the more it changes us. Hate rarely leads to positive change, because it is such a negative and intense emotion. If we spend too much of ourselves on it, one day we might not recognize ourselves in the mirror.
What can we do instead of hate? The answer is always forgiveness. It can be much harder to forgive than to hate, especially because we are naturally reluctant to forgive those who have hurt us. But it will bring peace to us, not so much the other person.
Letting go of hate can help us lead full lives with serenity and calm. It can also free us from what has hurt us the most and set us free to pursue a glorious future.
