Forgiveness breaks all bounds of repression and depression. It liberates the psyche from bondage to the past.
In fact, I would rank forgiveness as the essence of psychotherapy.
As human beings all our limitations arise from our psychic wounding. This wound has been either intentional or accidental, but it drains our vitality. In fact, if it has been grievous enough, it runs our whole life, and ruins it.
We are creatures designed to absorb and transmit love, and when an unloving act is foisted on us, when someone or something casts a shadow on our capacity to love, we bleed.
War zones, jails, and insane asylums are where the wounded gather. This is where society sends its broken souls. Those who regain their capacity to love will emerge from these places of grief. Those who remain bitter will forever be incarcerated in them, whether or not they have been physically freed.
Those who are whole and well are dedicated to their capacity to love. They cannot kill, hurt, injure or maim another because they have not lost their capacity to see themselves as the other. Ideals do not sway them to injure others, no matter how vaulted the traditions in which those ideals are espoused. No ideal transcends their ideal to be of love and service to their brethren.
The cure for overcoming psychic wounding is to forgive. When we forgive, we pardon; we express mercy; and we liberate our own kindness.
When you forgive, you give forth your power of love to heal the image, memory, or person that distorted your self-image and gave you the false belief that you have been diminished, disempowered, and disenfranchised.
It is the wounded who strike out and wound others. It is the shadow of their own pain that they cast upon others. It is their unlovingness that they extend out of their crippled psyche. They become conduits for the poison that they themselves despise.
All forms of malice, ill-will and cruelty, euphemized in the name of some lofty ideal, come forth from those who speak in the names of righteousness; the crucifixion of Christ could not have come about except for the distorted sense of what is right by the persecutors.
If an act is unloving, no ideal can justify it, for to wound another is to wound ourselves. We create pathos in our wake. We spill grief before us.
How to forgive the unforgivable? How to release the sword of ill-will thrust into our hearts? How to break free of the resentment that has bound our tormentors these many years?
You do it by simply understanding that to for give is a healing for you. It is breaking the karmic bonds. It is an act of self-loving. Forgiveness heals pity, brings reconciliation to that which is broken within, and makes healing possible.
An act of forgiveness can be silent. In fact, it has little to do with the other person. They may or may not feel the psychic release as you drop your smoldering anger, nourished over more years than you care to remember.
When you forgive, you release...you release yourself. You release your attachment to pain. You release your aversion to the act done to you. And when you do this, something magical happens. You set yourself free.
It is never about whether the other person or event deserves your forgiveness. It is about your going free from your own web of negativity. When you forgive, you staunch the bleeding. When you forgive, you open up your heart and regain your capacity to love. And when you learn to love, your life opens up like a glorious dream. The question, ultimately, is never whether you should or should not forgive...instead the question is always this: do you deserve to be happy right now by letting it go.
Resource Box
Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Ca., 15 years ago and now resides in Denver, Colorado. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. discover how to create a remarkable life
Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.
elite cleaning services Mundelein ..I am not saying this because I am in need,... Read More
One of the first steps toward understanding the Tarot lies... Read More
I was reminiscing with a friend recently about his 'dark... Read More
As I sat down today to write this article, I... Read More
An act of selflessness is the highest expression of selfishness... Read More
My thoughts can get a little edgy at night. Possibly... Read More
It is my personal view that the reason we call... Read More
If I speak in the tongues of men and of... Read More
Life, no matter how we choose to look at it,... Read More
As a child growing up, whenever I was worried about... Read More
*Advice on living a humane and compassionate life.According to text... Read More
I am going to remind of some simple, yet important... Read More
What we think is what we are. Our lives are... Read More
Enlightenment can come in an instant or it may take... Read More
Just for a moment think of what is stopping you... Read More
One day Gilligan ventures off as usual into the jungle.... Read More
Back in the days of the old law of Moses,... Read More
We know that David did much to stabilize the Kingdom... Read More
Were you lied to as newborn Christian? I was...let me... Read More
It would be nice if the planet - like so... Read More
Lately I have become aware of a new truth that... Read More
Lectio divina is a very useful and practical discipline for... Read More
Behold, a certain young maiden did often times and at... Read More
Since I awoke from my three month coma in August... Read More
Job was a spiritual man who loved and obeyed God... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Mundelein ..I have, in my opinion, the world's perfect job. Just... Read More
Qohelet had grown old with time when he delivered his... Read More
Five verses specify that we are to live by faith.... Read More
"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my... Read More
Connect with Your GodDo you at times, feel fearful, depressed,... Read More
Did we just overlook the amount of love that God... Read More
When we find spirituality, or it finds us, the experience... Read More
Whadda ya know?Seriously. With absolute certainty, what do you know?... Read More
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,... Read More
Throughout history, what is portrayed in all religions as being... Read More
I once read a story about a Catholic priest who... Read More
As a Psychiatrist I spent most of my life training... Read More
Do you have a servant's heart? Has God blessed you... Read More
I believe in the source we refer to as 'God'.... Read More
For it is written in Bible in chapter 2 Peter... Read More
To understand the nature of esoteric and occult secrets it... Read More
AN ARISTOCRATIC UPBRINGING:There are many people who write about sex... Read More
The question of life after death is one that continues... Read More
Am I dreaming? The sign outside the skyscraper reads: "Spiritual... Read More
As we go through life we all have to deal... Read More
My fiancee' and I frequent a restaurant in L.A. called... Read More
One does not have to live long to realize that... Read More
In my life, I have tried... Read More
God made humans in his image but these days very... Read More
The following article is an exploration of the Spring holiday... Read More
Spirituality |