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Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness’

Forgive

Posted in Let Go, tagged , , , , , on January 24, 2012| 8 Comments »

Forgiveness is letting go with love. It is an act of liberation amidst our human struggles – amidst the things we came here to learn. So many of us are facing especially painful challenges right now because we are evolving towards greater love. We are being pushed through situations and relationships that are asking us to forgive and thereby release all that is not love. For only then can we rise to meet our new reality – our ascending earth.

So often, we need to forgive ourselves the most for how we’ve handled life’s difficulties. This helps us to forgive others for their human-ness as well. Compassion and self-compassion are entwined with the ability to forgive.

For myself, when I am feeling hurt by another, it helps to write down their perspective until I am truly standing in their shoes. It helps to recognize that we just see life so differently from each other. If I become aware of individual needs, fears, and motivations, I can get to a place of saying, “I understand, and I release you.”

Of course, sometimes one may never understand. But then we remember that the heart always does. My heart often reminds me of this. When I finally forgive, I remember that I planned to work through certain issues in this life, and my loved ones have enabled my growth. They have reflecting my issues back to me. They are pushing me to face what I wanted to learn. Over time, I will feel grateful for what they have taught me. What I have gained is to grow stronger with love.

Forgiveness is breaking free. It is letting go of our pain so that we can be healthy again. When we forgive someone, we release them, and this allows us to heal our own wounds, for surely we have suffered enough. When we set people free, we too become liberated. And then we learn to accept each other exactly as we are.

But, how do we forgive those who truly mistreat us? By loving ourselves too much to let their poison hurt us any longer. Forgiveness is always a gift to the self, otherwise we are holding onto toxic emotions that only harm us. When someone mistreats us, they do not love themselves. It is that simple.

Of course, forgiveness never means going back to be treated this way again. We let the other person go completely from our thoughts with love, and no longer give them our energy. We soar once again with our health and freedom restored, essential rights we had sold far too hastily.

To reach for the lantern of forgiveness can seem humanly impossible. Here we find ourselves in pain and in the dark, and it feels so much easier to resist. But, if we let go of the disease of feeling wronged, and leap towards what is being offered, the dark becomes illuminated with love. Love is what this leap of faith requires, and then we remember that love is who we are. This is who we have always been, and to forgive is to embrace ourselves again.

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Let Go

Posted in Present, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2011| 7 Comments »

Living spiritually is all about letting go, but what a challenge it can be! We often hold on to our experiences, and this blocks the spiritual flow of life. These blockages create unhealthiness. They keep us from living fully, but we have the power to let them go.

I have found that when I act separately from the universe by controlling, expecting, and even wanting things, I experience frustration and struggle. When I plan too much, I lose the spontaneity that makes life work.

As writer Guy Finley states, “Anything you have to control controls you” taking away your natural freedom. Control creates a false sense of security that doesn’t satisfy the soul. And it actually wears you down. As teacher Christine Day says, “The effort and energy used to hold on are exhausting you.”

Letting go is the answer. But how do we do this? We have to feel what we’ve been holding on to and then let it go from our beings. We release it and leave it behind.

Instead of creating stress in the future, we can choose to honor ourselves. We can work with the universe instead of fighting it.

I have noticed that when I simply experience life without holding on so tightly, everything seems to work out effortlessly. This became obvious to me as a new mother who couldn’t do it all. I found that it was impossible to plan the day, but if I let go, everything fell into place. I found that when I stopped having expectations, things became more spectacular than I imagined.

It’s ironic that we have more control over fulfilling lives when we let go of control. And when we let go of the weight of the past and future – with all their endless stories and definitions – we free ourselves immensely. Letting go of past wounds and emotions can be very difficult, but it affords immense healing. Forgiveness is the key, and it helps us to remove blame. It gives us clarity for our own sake. Forgiveness enables us to let go of the need to be right even if we were very wronged. It releases our hold on others and allows us to fully accept everyone, exactly as we are.

I have noticed that the beauty in people becomes obvious when we let them go. By letting everything go, we rediscover our trust in the universe and in our deepest spiritual selves. Just thinking about this prompts me to ask, “Am I willing to let go at any moment of all that I’m clinging to?” I have so much to let go of, and when I catch myself feeling tense, I try to remember how it was to be a child running freely outside, laughing, playing and interacting with other children, without a single expectation or obligation. I try to become undefined once again and open to the present moment, where the magic of life resides.

Letting go is a vital part of the creative process. So often we hold onto what we create because it doesn’t feel completely finished or “perfect,” and so we continue to trap it in our minds.  When we are ready to give our work to the world, we must detach from it so that it can be received by others. This is a similar concept to giving one’s dreams and problems up to God, for how can God help us with something if we are still holding onto it?

Last night, I had a dream about letting go. I dreamt that I gathered people around a small and deep swimming pool that was half-filled with water. I stood with my back to the pool and took a long fall backwards into the depths as my strongest voice asserted “Let Go!” The observers applauded and I felt truly liberated. I want to carry this symbol of letting go with me walking forward into life.

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