Never underestimate the power of forgiveness to transform your life. In fact, it's one of the things that most often keeps us from moving forward in life and creating harmony in our bodies and minds.
Somehow it seems difficult for me to ascertain how much I need to forgive myself until an emotion within my body unfurls itself from my insides and releases itself in the form of a tear.
I had a visceral and powerful transformation happen this week unexpectedly as I tried to move forward with my dreams. The harsh judgment, blame and shame I felt toward myself for past mistakes was still lingering inside of me—the fear of repeating said mistakes had me paralyzed.
That all changed the day I got on a coaching call (yes, coaches use coaches!) and found myself unable to make a decision regarding my business. My dear coach recognized that I needed to do some forgiveness work, so we used the beautiful Ho'oponopono prayer. Don't worry, we didn't know how to pronounce it either!
As I said this prayer inwardly to myself, I felt a release of emotion that I had been carrying with me for some time now. When left untended to, emotions camp out in our bodies. Emotions are energy in motion and they desire to move through us (which is why we are often moved to cry, laugh, scream or dance).
I clung to my emotions and carried them like trophies as if they were something to be proud of. I couldn't bring myself to have enough compassion toward myself to find true forgiveness. Yet, this was the key to setting me free from my past.
Give Yourself the Gift of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is our biggest gift in life, whether it is aimed at ourself or others. It has the capacity to hold us down with retched weight or set us free to be the harmonious being God intends for us to be.
So, when we are ready (and not a moment sooner), we will be guided to finally say, "I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you." Making amends with ourselves and others has the power to propel us forward on our path. When we are no longer filled with resentment, anger and regret, we find room for peace and love to make their way into our lives.
Life isn't meant to be traveled with so much extra baggage. Let it go. But first forgive yourself or the person you feel wronged you in some way. Don't do it for them if they aren't remorseful; do it for yourself.
Words are just words without feeling behind them, so aim to really feel the emotion behind the words and be sincere. Whatever pain you must feel to forgive is going to be your ticket to freedom and harmony.
Mistakes are ultimately how we learn lessons, so be gentle with yourself and be thankful you showed up fully for life, even if it didn't work out the way you planned on. This is exactly what I said to myself; I pray you offer yourself the same perspective of gratitude and compassion.
It's not what you get out of life that matters but what you learn along the way.