Hate? A word? A feeling? It’s so easy to hate someone. But honestly, what’s the point?

The word hate is thrown around so freely, some people will say it dozens of times a day. “I hate waking up early. I hate 8 A.M.s. I hate chemistry. I hate that girl. He cheated on me, I hate him.”

But what I learned over the years is that hate is harder than anything.

Hate consumes you. Hate changes you into a different person. It doesn’t matter what that person did to you, when you see this person, all of your mind is consumed with hate and bitterness. You will find yourself only thinking about how they did you wrong, you won't even notice the good people around you.

We spend so much of our time hating people who did us wrong, but mostly we are hating ourselves. We hate ourselves for being friends with the girl who always put us down, or for going back to the guy who we love that hurt us. You try to put all of the blame on them, while you were an active participant in the situation

You try to say, "Wow, I am so over what happened, I don’t hate them anymore,” but that is not the case.

If you are still talking about it you are not over it, if you even slightly mention the person’s name, whatever happened still consumes you and that is not a way to live.

You should live freely. No regrets, no questions, nothing bothering you. You shouldn’t have to look back on your life and think about who did you wrong, because if they did, you shouldn’t even give them the time of day. Hate is not a feeling anyone wants to feel, but as humans we are inclined to “hate” or feel negative feelings toward at least one or two people that we are surrounded by.

But coming from someone that has experienced hating someone,

It doesn’t make you feel better than this person, it only makes you feel worse about yourself.

This person is not thinking about you, they are not telling their friends about you, nor are they wasting their time hating you. They are living their lives, not caring about who did them wrong or the rough patches they have had in their lives. They are using the low points in their lives to better themselves and to really enjoy the good times and people in the lives.

Everyone makes mistakes in their life, so if someone did something to you that was not right, honestly, they regret it. No one in their right mind wants to make someone upset, but we are selfish and making someone upset for our own well being sometimes is OK. You are your number one priority in life, and you have to make yourself happy.

People will make you upset without thinking about it, the case is that they are doing something that most likely something that makes them happy, which is something you need to respect. In the moment, hating them may seem like the only answer, but it’s not.

They may have screwed you over, but they are not thinking about your feelings; they are only thinking about themselves. If they really cared about you, they wouldn’t hurt you. So what’s the point of hating someone who couldn’t care less about you? There isn’t any. It only puts your energy into something negative, and to live a happy worth while life is to live without hatred and regrets.