Forgiveness is for YOU!

"Each time you forgive, you take yourself deeper into the purity of your own consciousness."  ---The Way of Mastery p. 25

Forgiveness is for YOU!  

It's not something you do because you ought to, or you think you should.  You don't forgive because way back when your Sunday School teacher told you to.

It's not something you do for others (although forgiveness is very healing for everyone else).  You don't do it because long ago your mother told you to forgive your sister when the two of you argued.

It's not something you do to heal the world, although it does contribute to the healing of the world.

It is simply for YOU.  It is through forgiveness that you discover your own magnificence.  You discover that you are loving and good inside at your core.  You are connected to the divine and that purity and innocence flows in your veins.  It is only as you forgive the world around you, however, that the awareness of your own beautiful divine nature begins finally to dawn on you.

When your forgiveness work begins to congeal into a new way of seeing the world, you subconsciously start the process of actually forgiving yourself.  You learn that if purity is at the heart of everyone you've forgiven, then it is at your own heart, too.  You begin to see yourself differently.  You recognize your inherent goodness and wisdom.  It is there, and actually has always been there.  But it is only as you practice forgiveness that you are able to recognize its presence.

And as you forgive more and more in your everyday world, your life begins to change.  It becomes easier, Lighter.  Good things flow to you.  Life's lessons become gentler.

You begin to see that you can trust life to take care of you and that allows you to accept more peace.  You understand inherently that you are safe.  That everything that is important in this life begins with forgiveness and love.  That as you forgive and love, you are tapping into the essence of your purpose.

And this makes you want to go further in your forgiveness.  So you probe into your past wounds and release and forgive.  You see the distorted, false, difficult world around you and you accept, accept and accept even more.  You release the old false beliefs that blocked you from seeing the truth in your heart.

More peace flows in.  Life lightens even more.  And one day you know that you have reached the beginning of living what A Course in Miracles calls "the happy dream".   It's not all always perfect, but it mostly is, and you know in your core that as you continue to live in forgiveness, it will become more and more so.

You've found happiness.

All this is so much bigger than holding onto that miserable pain-inducing tight-fisted life-long grudge against that most annoying someone in your life.  This is huge.  This is everything.  Do you see that?  Let it go.  Let it go.  LET IT GO.  Choose to live a happy life.  Choose to know your real truth.  Choose to be so much more than the smallness you are living now.  Expand into love.  Forgive and be happy.

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Alice and Otto and The Happy Dream

https://www.tahoedreaminteriors.com/forgive-someone-now/Last night while watching the Oscars, I started thinking about the short film, The Lady in Number 6, which features Alice Herz Sommer, a then 109 year old holocaust survivor.  Alice died last week at the age of 110 and was the oldest living concentration camp survivor.  Her joy and appreciation for life were infectious.  Watch the clip below to see how much she loved both music and people.

Alice reminds me so much of a neighbor I had years ago.  Otto lived down the street from us and was the delight of the entire neighborhood.  Everyday he strolled the sidewalks greeting us all joyously.  He had so much happiness and generosity in his heart.  He loved everyone and wanted nothing more than to connect with each of us personally.  There were always dog treats in Otto's pocket and friendly teasing for any neighborhood children.  I was shocked one day to see the concentration camp tattoo on his wrist.  I never quite got over it.  How could Otto, who had witnessed and been victimized by the worst in human nature be able to bring out the best in human nature in his own self?

Alice and Otto have something huge in common and it's not their concentration camp background...it's forgiveness. Both manged to somehow forgive their horrible past.  They were living proof of the happiness that forgiveness brings.

A Course in Miracles promises that if we live a life of forgiveness we will eventually find ourselves living what it calls "the happy dream" life.  Alice and Otto both forgave and ultimately came to live that happy dream.

We each are in total control of only one thing: our thoughts.  What we choose to fill our minds with defines who we are and what we become.  

Both Alice and Otto lost just about everyone they knew and loved in Hitler's concentration camps and yet they lived on to forgive and love the world.  If they can forgive the terrifying experiences of the camps, then we are each certainly capable of forgiving our own past wounds.  Let Alice and Otto be a shining example of what each of us is capable of achieving, if we will only just do it.  Forgiveness is a lifestyle.  Take the first step and begin to forgive today.  Just take a look at Alice and her joy.  Don't you want the "happy dream", too?

Available at:

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Balboapress.com

And if you want to get started today forgiving someone but don't know how, this quick and easy $2.99 downloadable forgiveness process will allow you to forgive today:

Flip the Switch

Forgiveness is a matter of flipping the switch.  We go from fear to love.  From attack to generosity.  From thinking with the ego to thinking with Spirit.  From thoughts of torment, worry and trouble to thoughts of calm and inner peace.

At first, it's difficult to flip the switch.  We love our grudges.  They are cherished by us and we think we'll be giving up something we need if we release them.  But actually, they are nothing.  They bring us only pain.  Once released, we are happier.

With practice, we find it easier to just drop our grievance thinking and forgive.  Like anything else in life, the more we do it, the better we get at it.  Forgiveness becomes easy.  Most importantly, as we live the rewards of forgiveness we watch the happiness growing in our lives.  The more it grows, the more we want to forgive.

So come on, come on....get happy!

Start your happiness today.  For an easy guided forgiveness process, download Forgive Someone NOW for $2.99, here. You can load it onto your computer and then sinc it into your smart phone to listen to on head phones at night before you go to sleep.

Or download a copy of "Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness";

Available at:

amazon.com

barnesandnoble.com

balboapress.com

Who is Irritating You Today?

Make it a practice to search your mind each day to discover all the people you feel annoyed or upset with.  Don't miss anyone.  This is important. 

Maybe a stranger cut you off in traffic on your way to work this morning.  Perhaps you stopped in for coffee and some pushy lady gave you a good jostle without saying sorry.  Was your spouse in a grouchy mood?  Did your children leave a mess in their rooms?  Do you have a client who is not returning phone calls?  Is a co-worker talking too much and wasting your time?  Maybe a friend is calling on the phone to whine about her relationship with her boyfriend, once again.

   

Gather all these people up in your mind and, one by one, forgive them all.  It only takes a minute or so for each person.  Just get it done!  If you can't do it right now, be sure you do it before the day is over.  In fact, the best time might just be as you crawl in bed tonight.  Forgive every one of the day's offenders and sleep peacefully.

If you create a habit of forgiving everyone, everyday, your life will change. 

Here's a quick and easy forgiveness practice you can use.  Picture each person you want to forgive individually and say: 

You are Spirit

Whole and Innocent

I Forgive You, I Release You

I Bless You With Love

 

You may have to repeat this a few times, but stay very sincere.  Really think about what these words mean.  When you say "You are spirit", know that each person is a beloved Son of God, made exactly in his own image.  And when you say the words "I bless you with love", visualize yourself gifting this person with as much love as you can. 

 

If you find that you are simply too deeply angry to forgive one or more of these people, you may need some hard-core forgiveness practices.  No worries, tools for handling the people and situations that really, really press our buttons can be found in my book, "Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness".

 

 

"Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness" is available at:

 

barnesandnoble.com

amazon.com

balboapress.com