freedom of forgiveness

Forgiveness Sets You Free

Forgiveness Sets You Free

Set Yourself Free by Genevieve Gerard

For many people, forgiveness is difficult, they wrongly associate forgiveness with weakness and victimhood.  Those people are wrong.

There is great power in forgiveness.  To forgive is a way of welcoming transformation in your life and will set you free.

Forgiveness, while it may seem to be an act of kindness to someone who has wronged you is, in fact, an act of kindness and compassion for yourself.  Forgiveness is the only thing that can free you from the past.

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful and significant spiritual tools to transform your life.  Forgiveness is an act that has a dual benefit.  It benefits the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven.  It is freeing and releasing.

 

If you forgive someone only to free yourself and let yourself move forward in life, forgiveness still has a powerful impact energetically in both mysterious and powerful ways.  Forgiveness influences the karmic connection between you in another in ways beyond conscious awareness and experience.

 

Forgiving releases old attachment to the past and frees you to enter into present time.  By forgiving, you open the opportunity for a positive change in your perspective, your understanding and your consciousness.  You create the possibility for a new and better way for things to be.”
      – Genevieve Gerard

Stop Being Trapped In The Past

When you forgive someone, you are no longer trapped in the hurts of the past.  You are released and are free to begin a process of healing.  You ignite and empower your life simply by having chosen to let go of what is in the past.  That opens you to the present, to the NOW, to the unlimited potential of freedom, the freedom to be present and thereby experience what is now available, what is possible.

To choose not to forgive is weighing your present down with chains that keep you from being able to grow, to thrive, live fully and be free.  That is a choice you can change today.

Amazingly, no matter how long you have clung to the pain, sorrow, and resentment of old wrongs, once you forgive, you can be released immediately.

You may feel a lightness, a peacefulness, a sense of being more centered or empowered.

The past, which you may have clung to relentlessly immediately losses its power over your life.  In fact, forgiveness has such a positive and empowering influence in your life that I have often thought that forgiving is an act of self-love.  Give forgiveness, not for the one who has wronged you, but for yourself.

Forgiveness opens you to a consciousness that is Divine in nature and aligns you with Love, Truth, and Grace.  When you hold an unforgiving mind, you are trapped within focusing not only on how you have been wronged but also on thoughts of failure, sin, and separation from God.

The Course In Miracles puts it this way,
“Forgiveness is the key to Happiness.”
      -pg.250 workbook for students.

Forgiveness opens you to a consciousness that allows you to experiment and make mistakes in life in full faith and confidence that you are a beloved child of God having the adventure to learn and explore all that life offers.  You claim that power immediately when you forgive.  By forgiving you automatically and spontaneously are provided forgiveness.

You don’t have to be perfect.  You are not expected to be perfect.  You are a human being, a being created in matter, and endowed with a spark of Divine Light.

Your life has a purpose in the Divine Plan of evolution.  Learning and growing throughout life can be messy.  It is O.K. to make mistakes.  In fact, it is expected that you will make mistakes.  That is how a human being transforms and its Soul learns. 

Transformation Will Set You Free by Genevieve Gerard

 

Life lessons and life learning rely upon forgiveness as an energetic flow that allows you the freedom from the past and ushers you into the possibilities and potential of what is being created and emerging in front of you.

Not forgiving traps you outside of that free-flowing energy.  Forgiveness opens you up again and relegates the past into the past where is the only place the wrong or harm exists.

Don’t Forget to Forgive Yourself

Forgiving others is important.  However, it is also important to forgive yourself.  To forgive yourself may seem to be the more difficult thing to do; still, it is of vital importance.   To deny yourself self-forgiveness is to reject both the power and energy of grace and in a way which denies the very power and nature of God.

You can forgive yourself of past mistakes and foolishness or wallow in your shame and guilt, or you can forgive yourself.  You can examine and explore your past and learn from the error of your ways.  It is never too late to make a new start.

Each morning brings a new day, an opportunity to start anew and open to new possibilities.  You can live your new life, one day at a time.  This is always possible. In fact, that is the only way anyone can live, one day at a time. Forgiveness and self-forgiveness give you that gift.

The Essence of Love is Forgiveness

The nature of God is Love.  The quality and essence of Love is forgiveness.

Refusing to accept God’s Love or forgiveness is refusing to accept life.  Forgiveness wields the power of growth, transformation, and healing.  When you forgive someone, you are opening to a dynamic force of healing and transformation.  It empowers you and frees you as it enables and frees the person you forgive.

Forgiveness is an essential ingredient of Love.  The life adventure of the Soul is learning and ultimately understanding how to Love; therefore, learning to forgive is vital.  You can waste a lot of life shaming and blaming, or you can choose to learn to forgive.  You can let go of past sorrows and open to the new possibilities that are emerging before you in the present.

Life and indeed the Law of Karma requires that you get the lesson until you learn the lesson.  You don’t need to waste your energy on shame and guilt.  You can pick yourself up and forgive your mistake and go forth and not make that mistake again.  Demonstrating what you have learned becomes a vital part of incorporating a life lesson into your consciousness.

Over the experiences of life, you learn and grow.  You become a better person, a wiser person, a more enlightened and aware person.  Along the way, forgiveness is important for it opens you to the present and only in the present can you take on the next challenge and lesson life is offering you.

Forgiveness Techniques

It is clear that in life the energies of Love and forgiveness are entwined with gratitude and appreciation.  A great example of this is the forgiveness technique of the Hawaiian cultures.  A powerful forgiveness technique that comes to us from the Hawaiian shaman is a simple repletion of three simple phrases:

    Thank you

    I Love you

    Please forgive me

These phrases come from the practice of Hoʻoponopono [ho-o-pono-pono] which is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness.

I have found adding the words:

    I forgive you  and

    I’m sorry

Add to the effectiveness of the technique.

Remember that with the technique of forgiveness you are releasing both you and the one you felt wronged you from the actions of the past and are allowing transformation and healing to take place to set yourself free.

Today’s challenges are sufficient for today.  Open your life to the new possibilities and potential that are coming to you today.  Claim those possibilities and let your potential come into manifestation with the power of living in the present moment.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Copyright © 2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of The Soul LLC, All Rights Reserved.

 

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Breaking Through To Forgiveness

Breaking Through To Forgiveness

Read "Breaking Through To Forgiveness" a blog post by Genevieve Gerard

Forgiveness is a subject that I write about frequently. This is because in my life, in my experience, whenever I have been able to forgive someone, my life changed and improved in a dramatic and dynamic way.

Not so long ago, when speaking with my much-loved Aunt Merle, we were talking about my writing and teachings, and my efforts to use my life lessons for the benefit of others.

I commented to her that forgiveness was something I knew a great deal about and that I had become very good at it.

My aunt, who knew many of the challenges I had experienced in my life’s journey, got very quiet for a moment. Then she said with love and compassion in her voice, “Perhaps dear that is because you had so much that needed to be forgiven, happen in your life.”

That statement gave me pause. It is certainly true that my life has provided, possibly like yours, so many experiences and situations that were so awful that I rarely speak about them. In my mind, I just consider them my own personal horror stories. I frankly rarely think of them anymore. Still they are a part of my past, a past I have been able to be free of through my ability to forgive. Because forgiveness freed me.

By forgiving, I was able to let what was in the past, not be a factor in my present.

It is in light of this awareness that I write today to encourage you to forgive.

It’s not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But, it is such a powerful place, because it frees you.
        – Tyler Perry

Moreover, I encourage you to do it for what it will do for you and how it will impact your life.

It has always fascinated me that the most powerful and significant impact that forgiving had, was for me, rather than upon those I had forgiven. In fact it is not even necessary for those you forgive to know you have forgiven them. My forgiving freed me from carrying the pain. My forgiving permitted me to heal and move forward in my life.

Forgiveness is not always easy…
And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
        – Marianne Williamson

When I think back to the moment that I was able to fully and finally forgive, I feel such joy remembering the relief and release that I experienced, it still makes me smile.

Energetically, when I broke through to forgiveness there was a shift that felt like a thousand hurts and burdens shattering, like tempered glass, into refuse on the floor of my life, that could now be cleaned up and swept away.

Up until that moment I knew that I had only attempted to forgive, I even told myself that I had forgiven the myriad of betrayals and cruelties I was made to suffer. I persisted, and with each attempt I paved the way that helped me reach a point where I could finally and totally forgive, and with each attempt to forgive the burden got lighter.

In fact, I had been working on forgiving much of my life. It is as if I knew from an early age, even in the midst of being subjected to terrible acts and situations that I needed to find it in my heart to forgive. In fact, when I shared what was happening in my life and what I was being subjected to in terms of abuse with teachers, preachers and counselors; they advised me to return love and forgiveness. And I certainly tried.

It was only when I realized that an important part of forgiveness was acknowledging the wrongness of what I had been subjected to, that I could release the anger that I was carrying. Otherwise, in the words of my spiritual mentor it was “premature transcendence.”  Honoring and admitting the reality of my anger was important.

Actually, it was only when my own spiritual journey took me to doing A Course on Miracles and I entered a phase of daily seed thoughts and affirmations on forgiveness, that I was ultimately able to forgive sufficiently and to be truly free.

Two seed thoughts that had a profound impact upon me, which were offered back to back, and which I spent days contemplating on I offer to you now. They are, “forgiveness is the key to happiness”  and, “forgiveness offers everything I want.”

Doing, Not Trying

I had been doing spiritual work in A Course in Miracles when my business travel placed me in a situation where I felt compelled to visit my Mother. In my life, much of what I needed to forgive was centered on my relationship with my Mother. Some for what she did, but much for what she failed to do, for the ways she left me vulnerable and unprotected.

When I found myself face to face with her after many years of my avoiding being subjected to her cruelty, and the memories that being with her made inescapable, I thought I might as well put into practice what I had been learning.

I went into my visit with my mother determined to not fall victim to her abuse. I had decided that I would not give her the power to push my buttons. (Up until that time, her behavior stimulated a response in me that I did not like and was vastly different from my usual self.)

Certainly, it is true for most people that their Mother knows exactly what to say or do to push their buttons. That was very true for me. My Mother’s strongest weapon was her poison tongue. Her vitriolic attacks and demeaning insults were only a part of what I needed to forgive, but they were something that had continued even after her failure to protect me from others was no longer relevant, because as an adult I could now protect myself. These verbal attacks made it hard to be with her.

In addition, although I could never understand how or why she seemed to enjoy being mean and cruel, I knew that I needed to find a way to not be her victim.

When, in the course of our visit she said something that was both demeaning and cruel, something shifted in me. This was not new behavior for her and certainly not new in our troubled relationship. What was new was how I reacted to it. I looked at her and instead of being angry, I returned love. I maintained my center and did not react. In fact, I recall feeling a deep sadness.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. When I did not respond in kind by saying something mean and cruel back to her, she became angrier. She became frustrated as she lobbed insult after insult at me. As I stayed centered in myself and not reactive she became so angry and so frustrated that she ultimately insulted herself back for me. She did this by saying “I know what you are going to say is…”  Ironically, what she said had never even crossed my mind.

What I then said, from my center, calmly was “I didn’t say that Mother, you did. Is that how you feel?”

In that moment, I was finally able to break through and forgive her. In that moment, I became free. I knew that for as long as we lived after that point I had the power to be who I was and not give her the power to control my behavior. In that moment, I discovered the amazing power of turning the other cheek.

forgiveness taking flight

In forgiving her, I was now free. That moment changed our entire relationship and that change remained until she passed from this life.

That does not mean that she was never mean again. Of course not. She was who she was. She did, over time come to appreciate the forgiveness I had given her, but the significant change was in me. The freedom and the release was mine, and that freedom and release allowed me to be in her company and be true to myself. To be who I had become in life.

There are in other articles I have written on forgiveness meditations and techniques that I have shared to assist you. I encourage you to consider them on your own quest to learn to forgive.

Forgiveness often contains many layers. Each time you forgive a wrong you peel away a layer and weaken the hold that the hurt has on you.

At its core, forgiveness is tied into love. The more you can love, the more you can forgive. The more you can forgive the more your compassion is stimulated as you understand better the factors that led to the circumstances you are striving to forgive. I encourage you and will continue to offer guidance and support on your quest to forgive.

When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.
        – Bernard Medtzer

Over the next 4 days I will post daily seed thoughts on forgiveness to support you through my Imagine 1 Minute social posts (please follow me on Facebook and Twitter.) Also, keep checking back, I am sure I will write again on the subject of forgiveness.

I invite you to experience the freedom that forgiveness gives. I encourage you to find it in your heart to forgive whatever horrors you may have been subjected to in your life. Your intention provides power.

Honestly own your anger and then let it all go with forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness Affirmations

To help you forgive here are some affirmations that you can use:

 

I Forgive You

&

I forgive myself for letting you harm me.

 

By forgiving you, I release you from our mutual past.

&

By forgiving you, I release me from the past.

 

By forgiving myself, I am now free of the past

 

I am sorry for all the time I reacted with anger.

&

I forgive myself for the times and ways I failed to love.

 

Now is a new moment, forgiveness enables me to open to new possibilities.

&

Forgiveness frees me to have the life that I desire.

 

What I receive by forgiving is freedom; freedom to free myself from old hurts, freedom to let go of the past. With forgiveness you are able to break free of old established patterns in relationships.

Most importantly, after you have forgiven, there is an opportunity for healing.

Forgiveness allows you to leave what has happened in the past where it truly belongs, in the past. This frees you from constantly needing to relive it or react to it.

It is even possible to develop a new bond and a way of being with the person you have forgiven that is much more satisfying and gratifying than what had preceded.

Forgiveness changes everything because forgiveness changes you.
        – Genevieve Gerard

On the heels of forgiveness comes the chance to build something new and different. You are able to shed the anger that held you captive and limited, and give yourself the ability to move forward in your life. Ultimately, forgiveness permits both compassion and understanding to emerge. Ponder on this!

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

P.S. I see that I have 20 other posts on forgiveness. Some offer tools and techniques that may be of help to you.

Check out How To Forgive Yourself: Let Go Of The Past and Release Your Pain and Sorrow guided meditation by Genevieve Gerard

 

You may also be interested in my 5-star guided meditation called “How To Forgive Yourself: Let Go Of The Past and Release Your Pain And Sorrow.” Because when forgiving another, it often brings up the need to forgive yourself for not standing up for yourself or letting another harm you. This seems to be true whether you had any control over their actions or not.

 

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Last updated 2-21-2018

 

Copyright © 2015-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Calm Your Mind

Calm Your Mind

Read Calm Your Mind - Serenity Sunday Article by Genevieve Gerard

Calm your mind,
Open Your Heart,
Invite the Light

 

These are the instructions that I use at the start of every guided meditation that I create.

When I reflect upon what characteristics best exemplify a spiritual life, I realize that the qualities of patience, kindness and calmness are key virtues for us to strive to develop in our life.

I believe you can best manifest these qualities as a reflection of your experiences received in meditation. The practice of meditation and ultimately the discipline of meditation, focus you on calming your mind.

Quieting your mind is an ongoing challenge for those of us who practice meditation, no matter what form of meditation we practice.

It is only in the quiet mind that the full peace of the serenity of our Soul can be experienced.”
     – Genevieve Gerard

It is in the quiet mind that we can open ourselves to the wonder and the Oneness of the Universal Presence. It is in a quiet mind that the promptings of your spirit guides and guardian angels can be heard. It is in the quiet mind that intuition can be truly revealed.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
     – James Allen

Releasing Anger

Calming your mind requires an active manifestation of the important principle of detachment, because to achieve that blessed state of calm you must disconnect from and release any anger you may be carrying, which will automatically bring you in touch with forgiveness. This forgiveness often needs to focus on those who have annoyed you, whether with petty acts or grand, but in order to extend the grace of forgiveness to another; you will find you must also extend that forgiveness to yourself first.

This contradiction of that by giving we receive has been revealing itself more and more clearly in my recent meditations. It seems to be an important principle. Ponder on this. It is very empowering.

This release and this resolution of whatever anger you have been experiencing combines with a spontaneous ripple effect of shifting your awareness away from the events that made you angry. This does much to bring calmness to your mind and quiet the chatter, by letting go of expectation, demands or desire.

This movement in your consciousness from expectation, desire, and demand, to letting go of your anger enables you to forgive both the other person and yourself. By this act of forgiveness, you will accomplish a great step forward in calming your mind.

All of this can occur in a nanosecond once you consciously turn your attention toward the content of your mind chatter and the emotions that are locked within it. You might find that this process is enhanced by taking a really deep breath and exhaling fully. The deep breath not only enhances the experience of the release but it also works with the physiology of the autonomic nervous system as the deep breath signals the body-mind-spirit connection that you are now safe to be calm.

Concurrently, your being is interwoven with the influences of your mind, your emotions, and your Soul. The release of the anger and the dual decision to forgive both yourself and the other person spontaneously opens your heart to experience more love.

Open Your Heart

This opening of the heart is the second instruction that I give each time I introduce a guided meditation.

When you open your heart with a quiet mind love rushes in.”
     – Genevieve Gerard

The initial focus to calm your mind has a cascading benefit that is like domino’s falling bringing greater benefit and blessing.

When you open your heart with a quiet mind you are able to both give and receive more love. The heart becomes an open receptacle for the love your Soul brings to you and the love that is available to you from God or Source that is your birthright as a child of God.

Your heart opened makes it possible for you to love without demands or conditions. In this state of openness the qualities of compassion and kindness are stimulated in your consciousness.

Compassion, like forgiveness, cannot really be given, without also being received. This interrelationship and interplay of energies do much to bring about the desired effect of calming your mind. The combined factors of letting go of desires and expectation, and the resulting release of anger, by stimulating forgiveness of both the other and yourself, all shift your awareness and render your heart open to receiving and expressing love.

The initially stated intention to enter into meditation by calming your mind has opened you to all of these blessings.

The second injunction that I give at the start of every guided meditation to open your heart began automatically as you let go of your anger in the process of quieting your mind; forgiving yourself and the other.

To consciously choose to open your heart in the approach and intention of meditating does much to expand and enhance your experience of meditating. By adding the power of intention to what you are experiencing and adding the wisdom of understanding, the power and influence that meditation can have in your life will be significant.

Invite The Light With Meditation

The last instruction I give with each guided meditation is to invite the Light.

Inviting the Light is a step to enlightened awareness. Enlightenment is expressed in the peace, the calm and the love and the joy which becomes a state of being offered to all who tread upon the path of meditation.

There are a myriad of benefits and blessings along the way. Among these are the now undisputed health benefits of meditation. Meditation has been proven to reduce physical stress. It can also give you a different perspective and a sense of Universal Oneness. In addition, the transformation available to your life as you learn to forgive both yourself and others can be very powerful, very profound and very freeing.

The integration of all of the talents and tools that you have as one who has a body (an amazing and complex source of delight and sensation), emotions (a rich and diverse portal to enjoyment and happiness) and a Soul (the gateway to joy and bliss) is a miracle. It is the miracle we call human life. It is a miracle with which you are blessed. And because we live each life of this miracle blessed by free will, it is a miracle that we are empowered to make of it what we will.

In my life meditation has provided the way to harness and to calm my mind as I receive the blessing and benefits of a calm mind. Meditation is the tool that has enabled me to forgive both others and myself. It is how I have conquered the stresses, the strains and the pains in life. It is how I have utilized universal laws such as the Law of Attraction and the dynamic opportunity to be a co-creator in my life through the principle that Energy Follows Thought.

There is no work I can do that I believe to be more important than teaching about and creating meditations. There is no gift or service that I can give that offers more opportunity to help you live your life in joy fulfilling your potential and promise, manifesting your Soul purpose.

In my adventure through the lessons of my life, meditation is the foundational pillar upon which I build. I am far from perfect. I often fall way short of whom and how I would like to be. I am a work in progress and will remain a work in progress all of the days of my life.

For me, meditation is the way I progress along the path. Mediation has become over the years a practice that has given me so much, taught me so much and exposed me to so much that my joy and my love overflow into so many aspects of my life that my gratitude for this great gift to all of my teachers and guides along the way is unlimited and ongoing.

I wish this great joy and this blessing for you:

Calm Your Mind, Open Your Heart, Invite The Light!

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last updated 11-19-2017

 

Copyright © 2014-2017 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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