Holding a grudge, or two, is tiring work.
Forgiving someone, or yourself, can be equally hard.
But it might just be worth it.
According to a new study by The Journal of Health Psychology, being a forgiving person can reduce your stress levels and boost your mental and physical health.
It can improve sleep, lower cholesterol, reduce pain, anxiety and blood pressure.
The study, which looked into how stress affects your general wellbeing, found that people with a tendency to forgive were much less likely to experience bad mental health, and that forgiveness alone could greatly reduce stress levels.
The study's author, Loren Toussaint, an associate professor of psychology at Luther College in Iowa told Time: 'Forgiveness takes that bad connection between stress and mental illness and makes it zero. If you don't have forgiving tendencies, you feel the raw effects of stress in an unmitigated way. You don't have a buffer against that stress.'
But if you're not naturally inclined to daily acts of forgiveness, then all is not lost. Toussaint maintains that forgiveness can be learned. So be the bigger person, do a Taylor and forgive even your worst nemesis.
You'll feel better for it.
