Have you ever seen those sentiments shared on social media about forgiveness, or has anyone ever told you that you need to learn how to forgive? The sentiments usually speak to the reader about the importance of forgiving yourself and others to let go of something you’re holding onto that’s causing distress. Some may ask, āwhy do I have to forgive? Maybe I don’t want to forgive and forget.ā Thatās always your prerogative, and if you’re happy being angry or upset in some way about someone or something, it’s your free will to hold onto it. Are you happy living in that type of atmosphere? Are you repeatedly telling the story over and over to anyone who will listen? Is it running on replay through your mind, possibly keeping you up at night? How does a person forgive? Has anyone ever provided suggestions on what that process entails?
Forgiveness of myself or others has always been the most difficult thing for me to do. There’s been so many times Iāve looked back at things Iāve done or said, or should have done or said, and I cringed on the memory; it felt like a gut punch. Believe me, it’s been some harsh self judgment and criticism. It had usually been triggered because of someone or by a sudden memory or snapshot that had surfaced. One day my guides informed that āduring those times, you werenāt awake and you were doing the best you could based on how you were molded and shaped by what you saw and experienced until you started to awaken.ā
This really made me stop in my tracks and think about how accurate that statement was and it not only made me think about how I was judging myself, but it also shifted how Iāve looked at the words and behaviors of others throughout life. Once I heard that information, it finally became much easier to forgive myself, forgive others, and understand how to frame my perception and experiences of others as I move through life. Itās still a work in progress as some days are more difficult than others, but at least I now have an understanding of how and why to forgive, and this brings in so much gratitude followed immediately by a huge expansion of love in the heart space. It’s the unconditional love that fills that space of released anger and grief. I give gratitude to that release and love, and it continues to perpetuate the expansion of more unconditional love. Thatās the type of repetitive cycle I prefer to be experiencing in my life.
This is why forgiveness is so much more important than the statement of forget it and move on in life. How do you forget? Do you forget? How does one simply forget something without stuffing it down into their body and trapping it there? Burying it doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten and moved on to live happily ever after, unless I suppose, youāre not affected by something and it causes no emotional response for you at all. In that case, youāre not burying anything.
Anything that causes even the slightest bit of emotional response to something is an energy carried within the body, and burying that energy is not releasing it but trapping it to fester. You may very possibly forget but are there times when you feel angry or sad and just can’t shake it, or possibly become ill and struggling to heal? Do you feel heaviness, worn down or fatigued? Of course, those issues can manifest for many reasons, but burying emotion is one of them.
Are you lucky enough to have never experienced any anger, sadness, or issues that resulted in any type of permanent imprint on your life? Each time I’ve experienced anything, it’s been held, even though I might have cried. Iāve heard cry it out or scream into pillows, and while it makes me feel good in that moment, the problem is still carried in my heart or mind because I hadn’t forgiven, and for me, forgiveness is the letting go.
We are all different and we all process our thoughts and feelings differently and while some may be able to cry or scream and walk it off, others don’t get the release of that memory quite the same way. Maybe it’s possible that the ones who don’t bury it all are able to release because for them, forgiveness is processing their emotion. I wish it could be that simple for everyone, for me.
In my opinion, the key to release is forgiveness, at least for me. Understanding what was shared by my guide helped me learn how to forgive. I guess it’s not so much that I “learned” how, but it adjusted my perspective of judgment, which was the catalyst to understanding which provided instant ability to access forgiveness. Feel free to share how you learned about forgiveness and what works for you. We’re all here to help one another through this life filled with lessons. Everyone has different learning styles, no matter what we are learning. Like anything, the act of forgiving is taking practice. Forgiveness doesn’t come that easy depending upon the situation, and I’m finding there’s many layers through the process. Just as I think I’ve forgiven and released, I find there’s something that’s triggering me, and I have to look at why, which brings understanding, and forgiveness follows. I continue to practice everything I’ve been learning.
Wishing you success along your path
Divine Blessings
Victoria
Silent Waters 