Forgiveness and Release

I am continually amazed at the power of forgiveness. On all levels it can improve our lives. Because we humans tend to take things personally and get offended at every little thing. Most of what anyone else is doing is about THEM, rarely, if ever, about us. (See Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements for the full story on this)

Some time ago, I was picking up my son from my mother’s best friend, when she began to tell me the litany of grievances she & her husband held against their neighbor. This neighbor had called the police on them for parking their car in the street in front of his house, had called them the most heinous of names (crazy) and she could not sleep at night for worrying about what he might do next.

Knowing her strong Catholic faith, I said to her: “Well, you know what you have to do, right?”

Befuddled, she replied: “No, what?”

“Pray for him. Grant him forgiveness.”

She looked aghast.

“And do it every night for two weeks, I continued. “And when you pray, pray for him to have every good thing that you hope for yourself. Love, good health, wealth, etc…”

Without skipping a beat, (to her credit) she proclaimed, “I’ll do it!”

One day shy of the 2 week mark, I stopped by her house to pick up some pictures. She couldn’t wait to tell me that, not only had the neighbor approached her to let her know, “he’s all over that now,” but has also offered to plant a dogwood tree for her where another had died just so that “she could enjoy looking at it.”

It goes to show: when you shine your light, others can’t help but to be enlightened by it. But forgiveness is not for the other person anyway. It’s for YOU. When my friend released her resentments, judgments and bad feelings about her neighbor, the problems disappeared. And this can happen for any grievance you may have – old or new.

Praying for their happiness is one technique to bring about the release needed to unblock yourself. Another is the stage technique. I have recorded it in an 4 minute audio for you to listen to and follow along. It is guaranteed to help you with your stickiest forgiveness issue. (You know, that #&!* person you just don’t want to forgive!) Click here to download: Forgiveness Technique

All You Need is Love

Consider this passage from Emmet Fox:

“There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;
No disease that enough love will not heal;
No door that enough love will not open;
No gulf that enough love will not bridge;
No wall that enough love will not throw down;
No sin that enough love will not redeem. . .
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake–a sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. . . if only you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.”

Food for thought, eh? And, certainly truer words were never spoken. But how do we love enough? How do we summon up this quality at will? The answer lies in simplicity itself. We are love. It’s the stuff we are made of. Our only job is to get out of its way and allow it to come in. It’s so empowering to know we have total access to the only answer we’ll ever need!

So the practice of this principle only gets difficult when the opposite of love is strong. (ie fear/hate/anger/resentment) It is then that we need to step aside and let our inner love flow out. It can be a challenge when we are agitated. Here is an exercise to try: Imagine a shelf in your kitchen. Imagine placing your anger on that shelf. You can come back and get it later, if you want, but for right now it’s on the shelf. And then sit down at your imaginary kitchen table and let loving thoughts come forth. You can just repeat the word: Love. This is an excellent spiritual treatment. Try it out and let me know how it works!

All you need is love. And you have all you need.

Unseen Loving Forces

We are not alone here in this physical world in which we live. What we can see with our physical eyes is NOT all there is. Right next to us (nearer than hands and feet) are Unseen Loving Forces that are available to support us any time. They go by many names: Universal Force, Guardian Angels, Fairies, Non-Physical Friends – it doesn’t matter what you call them, just that you call ON them. You see, they do not interfere until asked (that’s the free-will right we are given) but they WILL help when asked.

It ‘s comforting to know that you are not all alone. Next time you are faced with a problem that you have no idea how to solve, take a moment and call on these Unseen Loving Forces. You could say something like: “I am now turning this problem over to the Unseen Loving Forces that surround me, love me, and are supporting me constantly.” Then let the thought of the problem go out of your mind and do not think of it again. You will be surprised -even dazzled and amazed – by the efficiency of your Non-Physical Friends.

Remember, you don’t have to believe a certain thing or adhere to some creed in order to utilize these Forces. It doesn’t matter what you believe or even IF you believe. If you ask for the help, you get it. Cool, huh? Try it and let me know your results.

The Case for Faith

Faith and fear have the same definition: “belief in something that hasn’t happened yet.” Most of us practice fear a lot more than we practice faith. We imagine (sometime in great detail) the things we fear happening to us. We speak about our “worst fear” coming true or we speak fear for others, under the guise of “warnings.” And it’s not totally our fault. We are set up for this kind of behavior by our society, drenched as it is in the media – 90% of which is negative and fear-based. What we don’t realize is that the news is only a VERY small portion of what is happening in our world. Most of us are living in well-being – so the media is just not a fair representation.

We know that our thoughts (and words) are creative so it behooves us to switch our attention to what we WANT to see happen in our lives. And then have faith that it will come. That’s the belief in something that hasn’t happened yet.

So how do we practice faith? The first way is to recognize when you have had faith and it paid off. Notice when you believed…and you were right! Acknowledge faith working in your life by being grateful for what has manifested in your life.
The second way to increase faith is through study. So many wonderful books have been written on this subject such as “God Works through Faith” by Robert Russell and “Sermon on the Mount” by Emmet Fox and “Discover the Power Within You” by Eric Butterworth. Sometimes it is easier to absorb a lesson when you are looking at from another’s point of view. Each new book will expand your knowledge but it is up to you to apply what you are learning with practice. And practicing faith means BELIEVING in what you are not yet seeing.

Telesummit for the Soulful 50+

Telesummit for the Soulful 50+
April 26-30th 4:00pm EST each day.

Register now for the best event this year for the Boomer with a soul!

click here to register: (it’s free!)
http://bit.ly/actq9U

You’ll hear:

Monday, April 26 @ 4:00 pm EST
Dr. Ben Lo, MD, graduate of MIT and Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons

Tuesday, April 27 @ 4:00 pm EST
Christina Watson, 50’s Life Coach, Founder of Footprints@50.com

Wednesday, April 28 @ 4:00 pm EST
Doug Fitzgerald, Founder and President of The National Center for
Baby Boomers, Boomer-Living.com and Key Life Benefits

Thursday, April 29 @ 4:00 pm EST
Becky Williamson, M.S., Author, “Fit and Fabulous Fitness Tips for Boomer Women

Friday, April 30 @ 4:00 pm EST
Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., Senior Strategist, VibrantNation

So, come join us!
Click here to register: (it’s free!)
http://bit.ly/actq9U

Resize your Miracles

When we look for miracles, it pays to look for the little things. In other words, we tend to think of miracles as BIG things. Like winning the lottery or a sudden windfall or a huge unexpected promotion. But that kind of thinking keeps miracles at bay. We don’t really expect them to happen, so they don’t. (more on expectations later…)

But if we will resize our miracles and realize that when we want something – and it comes right to us – that is a miracle. And when we say, “thanks for that miracle,” we are ensuring that the process will continue.

You see, really, there are no miracles. Everything works by law. And the law of polarity says that if you want it…it’s already here. Which means your job is to look for it, recognize it and accept it when it comes. This is your “miracle.” So as you strengthen your ability to make a miracle, or rather manifest something you want, you gain confidence in that ability. And then the miracles just keep coming in and coming in.

So resize your miracles and get ready for an inpouring of them!

Raise your Inner Voice

I get my best ideas in the shower…don’t you? Today I was inspired by intuition.

Your intuition is constantly calling to you…telling you what the next right thing for you is. But in the mad rush of our world, bombarded with messages from all over, so often we can’t hear that inner calling. But if we are going to get clear direction, we must listen in. The easiest way to turn up the volume is by practicing meditation.

The object of meditation is to stop of thought. When you quiet your mind and allow yourself to stop thinking, you get to feel peace as you connect with your inner self. You also stop resistance for just that period of time when you are not thinking. In that state of non-resistance you become a powerful attractor of things you have been wanting. When you come back to the waking state, the benefits of meditation show up as a greater awareness of this intuitive voice inside of you. You can just hear it better. And when you listen to it, you will be guided…from inside.

If you’ve never meditated, it is very easy to do. You can simply get comfortable and focus on your breathing for 15-20 minutes, while releasing any thoughts that enter your mind. After a while the thoughts will lessen and you’ll be able to just be in the stillness. There are many resources to deepen your understanding of meditation, but the important thing is just try it. Just once a day will increase your ability to hear your intuition loud and clear.

Act As If

When the voice of fear hampers you, agree with it quickly and move on. When you just agree with your fear, it stops screaming so loudly in your mind and you can receive the next message of inspiration that you need.

So let’s say you want to write a screen play about your life. Your fear screams, “You can’t do that! You’ve never written a screen play. It’s incredibly difficult and takes years to complete.” You say, “Ok, well, that’s probably true. But what would a person who wanted to do that do next?” or “If I was someone who could write a screenplay, how would I proceed?” So, it’s almost like you’re just fantasizing, just playing around. That let’s your ego – which houses your fear – take a break. You see, it’s only trying to protect you. So when you agree with it quickly, it’s job is done and it can rest while you let your creative side explore the possibilities of your desire.

So, agree with your fear then act as if you’re successful already. Let your fantasies run wild. What you can mentally accept is YOURS. But when you let your fears cut off your dreaming before it can really get going – you stop the creative process. Look at your fear as something that’s just trying to protect you from failure, then it’s a little easier to just agree with it in order to quiet the rumblings and then move onto your big dreams.

Ask Good Questions

When you are in the creative process (which is always, by the way) you are asking for your creation, essentially. You are thinking about it, wondering about it, contrasting it with what you have now. The next thing to happen is the introduction of a rich idea, or insight, to your mind. It may be that someone delivers the idea to you, or you may have an inspired idea come to you in your thoughts. Once that has happened the next important thing for you to do is: ASK GOOD QUESTIONS! Your ego (which thinks it already knows everything so doesn’t embrace new ideas) will begin to tell you why your new idea won’t work. Often times it whispers and you end up dismissing your rich idea before you even know it! So get into the habit of asking yourself empowering, forward-moving questions to bring that rich idea into fruition.

For example, let’s say that you are asking for new clients for your tennis instruction business. You are thinking of all the youngsters who would love to learn tennis, how good it feels when they grasp the concepts you are teaching and *BAM* the idea comes to you to call Susana Vasquez, an old friend of your sister’s who now works at a private school nearby. Immediately, your ego says: “She won’t remember me.” Then, “Those children can’t learn tennis, they have dyslexia.” Then, “They have tennis courts already, they probably have an in-house instructor.” Now, your work is to ask good questions. Like, “Will she take my call or will I need an introduction from my sister?” And, “Do dyslexic children need extra attention and can I learn more about that to serve (no pun intended) them better. And, “What if their in-house instructor wears many hats and wants to give up the tennis part?”

Any of these questions will keep you moving forward. The first set stop you dead in your tracks.

So think of your inspired ideas as precious gifts and it is up to you to utilize them to their fullest before dismissing them. And you do that by exploring their possibilities with good questions.

The Power of Forgiveness

We do not get away with unforgiveness. When we forgive, we do it for ourselves, not for the other person. As (one of my absolute faves) Eric Butterworth puts it: “We may feel that it is too much to ask us to forgive those who have deliberately and spitefully used us. Don’t we have a right to our indignation and bitterness? Yes, you have a right. But you also have the responsibility to accept what happens as a result. You have to pay the price for a broken connection in the Divine Circuit.”

There is not ever a good enough reason to give away your peace and your freedom. Resenting someone or something is like chaining yourself to them – you cannot be free. Forgiveness is the key that lets it go.

And it gets you back in the prosperous flow. It’s like holding on to judgments and resentments blocks your flow. Sometimes it’s been blocked (at least partially) for a long time. And that’s why people often get dramatic results right away when they begin this practice of forgiveness. Things you’ve been wanting for a long time get freed up to come to you with this practice.

So determine right now that you will forgive yourself and everyone else too. Take a sheet of paper and write down anyone you feel resentment for, or judge or are just irritated by. Review it everyday and speak words of forgiveness and release for anyone on the list. Do this daily for just two weeks and watch the amazing results.