Letting go of the past - a simple method

It can be very easy to say "let it go", "let it slide", "forget about it" and so forth. It's possible to say those words and similar till you are blue in the face; but all those hurtful things are still there pulling faces at you, laughing at you, making you feel so low, dragging you down and keeping you from the power to reach for success.

You know for a fact that you can have a fast, powerful sports car, but, load it up with lots of unnecessary junk and it's going to have only one speed - dead slow - no matter how hard you press that accelerator and wish it forward. This applies to your life. Load your mind up with all sorts of junk from the past and you've got it - no power - no matter how hard you try or wish.

All that hurtful, humiliating, painful, debilitating, embarrassing "stuff" from the past eating away at your character, confidence and personal power like battery acid. What can you do? How can you begin to move forward?

Forgiveness. You MUST forgive the past. Forgive the people who may have wronged you in some way. Forgive all the incidents. Forgive yourself. Forgive even your God. For it is only through true and heartfelt forgiveness of the past and all those involved that you can genuinely begin to "let it go", "let it slide", truly "forget about it" and move forward again. Everybody makes mistakes. We are all only human, and our greatest teachers are our mistakes. All those people from the past who you believe wronged you - well - they, just like you, are only human too. You need to recognise that and be prepared to forgive just as you would like to be forgiven for your past mistakes.

Action plan. Make a list. A list of all the people, incidents, wrongs, mistakes made, hurts, jealousies that are encumbering your life, that are robbing you of your power. Write everything down. Don't miss a thing. Not a single crumb. This is going to be one nasty document. Add descriptions if you wish - just get it ALL out on paper.

The old you would have framed this document on the wall so you could read over it every day and gloat about all your excuses for "not making it".

The new you is going to handle the situation totally differently. You are going to set aside a day - a whole day - to be alone. You need to find a lonely spot a long way from everyone. Perhaps a trip to the country will do it. Pack a picnic lunch. Look on this as a celebration. A celebration of forgiveness.

You will arrive safely at the designated spot. You spread out your picnic. An excellent spot is somewhere high like a mountain top. You take out your list. In a very loud voice you call out "I forgive my wife for not loving me as she should.", "I forgive my aunt Joan for embarrassing me so much at that family party in 1987", "I forgive with all my heart and soul the driver of that car that smashed into ours injuring my son so badly - I forgive you." Obviously these are only examples - yours will be yours. If you feel you need to read it over many times until you feel "done".

Now destroy the list completely. Bury or scatter to the wind any remains. Make sure it is gone forever. Celebrate your forgiveness event with your picnic and go home. It is done. You are free. Forgive always. We are all one. As you have just forgiven others, so too have you been forgiven.

3 fantastic quotes:

"Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past" - Gerald Jampolsky

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world" - Marianne Williamson

"Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life" - George MacDonald

A relevant book to read: "Total Forgiveness" by R. T. Kendall