This is where we all got it wrong, when it comes to changing ourselves. Most of our society spends a huge portion of their lives buying ‘stuff’. We all want more clothes, better cars, bigger houses, more jewelry, whatever it is we like ‘so much’. But we never think that if we spent more time helping someone else fulfill their dreams (even little ones), we’d feel so much better about the things we do have. We’d fill that empty hole that we think is going to be fulfilled by buying ‘more stuff’. Forgiveness is a huge part of changing ourselves. Most of us (including me) find it extremely hard to forgive people who have hurt our feelings, or done us serious harm in some way. This can be impossible or next to impossible for many of us. However, this is the key to releasing yourself from places in your life that keep you stuck…with finances, relationships (romantic relationships and all other kinds of relationships), business, careers and pretty much anything you can think of. Forgiving ourselves is also important. We do things we’re not proud of at times and need to forgive ourselves for things we’ve done. Here’s a couple of exercises in ‘forgiveness’ I found in Louise Haye’s Book, “You Can Heal Your Life”. Simply sit quietly in the dark or with your eyes closed and say, “The person I need to forgive is _________________ and I forgive you for_____________________. Repeat this phrase over and over. Then imagine the person you’re saying it to and imagine them saying “Thank you. I set you free now”. Ms. Haye says do this for at least five or ten minutes and to search your heart for the injustices you still carry. Then let them go. When you have cleared as much as you can for now, turn you attention to you and say out loud “I forgive myself for ____________”.Also do this for another five minutes. Then feel that you’ve released yourself from each and every injustice. Louise Haye says these are powerful exercises and should be done at least once a week until you feel cleared of all past burdens. No matter how hard it is, just keep chipping away at it until all things are resolved. You can also visualize better scenarios between you and other people. Some people ask why it’s so important to ‘forgive’ when they really hate certain people. The reason it’s so important to forgive is because we’re ‘all one’ – remember? When you don’t forgive, the only person that this affects and hurts is ‘you’. · You’ll be stuck (not the person you hate)· Your life won’t go forward· You won’t be at peace· You will develop more diseases and more stress This is why you practice forgiveness. Not for the other person, for YOU. Changing ourselves takes some work, but it’s so, so valuable to our well-being. In fact, we wouldn’t be able to pay our way to the kind of freedom and inner peace we’ll have, once we embrace our self-discovery. It’s the ultimate natural ‘high’!
