We all get hurt in our lives by other people, whether it be intentional or accidental. Sometimes life's circumstances can hurt us too. Naturally, everyone handles these situations differently. The way we handle pain in our lives defines our strength as a person. In order for us to find peace within ourselves after being hurt we must go through five steps.

Step 1: Letting It Be

When something bad happens in your life, do not blame others and do not blame the world. Simply accept that fact that it happened. Even though it could be painful or tearing you apart inside, accepting it will only make dealing with the situation easier. Pain is a huge part of life and the better you are able to deal with it means the stronger you are. Once you are able to accept the bad things in life you are then able to move on to the next step, which is forgiveness.

Step 2: Letting Go

After you have learned to accept that bad things happen in life, you can then learn how to let go. Letting go goes hand-in-hand with forgiving. If a person has wronged you in life you must forgive them. You do this not because they deserve such forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. Being able to forgive people after they have hurt you also shows maturity and strength. Once you are able to forgive others in your life, you are then able to move on to appreciating that the situation happened.

Step 3: Appreciation

It might sound weird, but it is possible to appreciate that something bad has happened in your life. There is always good to be found in any bad. If you are able to find the good in a bad situation then that means you are a strong person. When bad things happen, you can use them as a growing and learning opportunity. Once you appreciate a bad situation, you can move on to forgetting about the negative aspect of it.

Step 4: Forgetting

Forgetting that bad things have happened in your life is not the goal here. The goal is to forget about the negative pieces of such an experience that make you want to hold a grudge against someone. Holding a grudge is not only detrimental to your own mental health, but the relationships you have in your life as well. If you are able to forget the negative feelings associated with a person or event then you are able to move of to the final step of inner peace: happiness.

Step 5: Happiness

Achieving happiness is not easy. You have to climb through many obstacles in order to become content with your life. You have to be able to embrace the bad and celebrate the good. You have to take all that is negative in your life and be thankful for it. Being happy does not mean that all in your life is perfect, it means you are strong enough to overlook the bad in order to find peace within yourself.