Forgive to Live

Originally Published August 15, 2008

Forgiveness is a heavy word…not just for the implication of what it means, but for the energy that is usually surrounding it. I had a dear friend who I had lost touch with recently say to me….”thank you for forgiving me”…. for events that had transpired years and years ago. I stepped back for a moment when I heard this and thought about it. Yes, we had not spoken in many years (at least in the way this conversation developed) but forgiveness now???? I hadn’t really thought about it in so long, because I had forgiven this person ages ago.

So why was it so important for me or for anyone to forgive? Especially, when there is no guarantee or even hope that you will ever see or speak to someone again in your life! I believe forgiveness is a path to freedom. We have all have witnessed people in our own lives that literally spend a majority of their time holding grudges against people who have done them wrong and have literally wasted their energy feeling bad about something that happened in the past. I am not proposing that you ignore your emotional process, but why hate, despise and fester when the only person that it is holding back and hurting is you???

I realized this many years ago after my life dramatically changed and my reality became something completely new and different. My new reality was born out of heart ache and pain….as I went through my emotional process, I immediately realized that the only person that was being hurt by not forgiving was ME! You see, the other parties don’t ever feel your pain….as much as we would like them too, not so much. You are the only one who feels your pain….and the grudges and the anger….so unless you have magical powers, put away your voodoo doll.

What’s not to forgive?…we are all human and all make mistakes, some bigger than others. The important thing is that we are sentient beings with the ability to learn from our mistakes (and other people’s), forgive the pain that we have been dealt and to truly be free to LIVE an abundant and joyful life. Do whatever you need to do to get there….forgive yourself, forgive someone else, and you will find that you be truly LIVING, happy and free.

Find some compassion…try Supta Baddha Konasana to connect with anahata chakra (the heart center) and release tension and anger in the hips….a perfect pose to open yourself up to forgiveness.