Welcome to Day 20!
I wanted to put stars around the title or something eye catching to entice you to read this, but you are reading it, so thank you- please keep going! The fact is, most people do not want to read or talk much about forgiveness. It is an uncomfortable subject fraught with differing opinions.
I referred to a part of this back on day 8 and today I am preparing to teach a lunch and learn on the character strength of forgiveness (for a corporate client, how cool is that?), it prompted me to want to expand on it more for our challenge.
The truth is, I don’t think that you can BE very high vibe if you are carrying around a load of resentments and grudges toward others or yourself. I have worked for years on this myself and I know not forgiving has held me back in the past. Even today I have to watch for these opportunities and work with them right away before they have a chance to fester.
There are so many books written on the subject of forgiveness- read any of them, you will get a deeper essence than what I am able to write here. One of my favorites is by Ilanya VanZant.
What does forgiveness even mean? Accepting the shortcomings of others, giving people a second chance, not being vengeful, letting go of hurt, offenses and perceived all of those things. (Because we so often make things up and take them in a different way than they were intended.) There are times when it is easier and times when it is harder- and even unfathomable- to forgive.
It doesn’t mean you open the door for more hurt or inviting “them” to do what they did again. What it does mean is lightening your load so that you live freely and joyfully. One thought that really helps me to forgive is understanding the person (who could be me,too) is just operating out of their current level of awareness and personal growth. And our vibrations are not a match.
Staying mad at people is no way to live a high vibration life. You can choose. Unforgiveness or joy and happiness.
Forgiving yourself for all of the mistakes and failures you perceive in your past can also be let go of. Why are you still punishing yourself? Again, you were acting at your current level of awareness at the time.
Day 20 Coaching Journal Questions:
In order to live a happy, more joyful life:
-What do you need to forgive yourself and let go of once and for all?
-Who are you still holding something against and why?
-Look at each thing you wrote and ask yourself: What is my proof that this is true?
Day 20 Challenge:
You may have heard this one before, and it works.
- Write out everything you want to forgive yourself for and then SAFELY burn the pages and release it.
- Figure out what on your list is true and think about forgiving the person- write out what you feel, options for what you might do or say, or how maybe it will also be a private ceremony and you burn it up. Make a plan to work through letting each thing go. You don’t have to do it today, just start to plan it, write it out and think about it. Make a safe plan including help and support if needed. This is not to be taken lightly and neither is the quality of the rest of your life.
What if forgiveness is the key to the lock that opens the door to the life you have been wanting to live, but just haven’t been able to quite get there? Looking for more energy? Forgive. Looking for more self confidence and esteem? Forgive. Looking for more a feeling of freedom, hope and zest? Forgive. Let that s**t go!!!