Hey gorgeous,

Today, I want to talk about forgiveness.

You know that saying, “Holding onto resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”? You know how damaging it is spiritually to hold onto resentment, right?! 

Let’s face it – many of us have issues from our past that hold us back and cloud the enjoyment of our present. Whether it’s your “crappy childhood”, a terrible past relationship, a psycho ex-partner, painful memories of school-yard bullies or some other story, holding onto resentment affects you in countless ways.

Blocking Enjoyment of Life

It can kill your enjoyment of life, affect current relationships, or hold you back from experiencing love. It can even live in your body and cause illness.

Years ago, I was living in a constant state of blame and resentment. I was angry at my parents, I was still incredibly pissed off at an ex-boyfriend who “did me wrong”, I was embarrassed and ashamed of my past mistakes and I carried all of those emotions around with me.

I was consumed with how I had been wronged. I just couldn’t enjoy my life and I couldn’t forgive. I would lay awake at night recounting a conversation from over ten years before and feel just as aggrieved as if it was happening to me now.

I tried counselling, therapy, coaching, books, and personal development courses like the Landmark Forum. But I was still angry. All the time.

But, not anymore. The secret to releasing these thoughts is so simple and profound, and it’s hard to articulate how much it has changed my life.

This one affirmation can set you free – more than anything else.

I forgive you…
I’m sorry…
I love you…

This forgiveness exercise will clear about 80-90% of your “stuff”. Guaranteed. Don’t believe me? Give it a go! You’ve nothing to lose!

(This forgiveness exercise is based on the traditional Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono.)

Benefits from Practicing Forgiveness

• A feeling of calm and peace about past events
• The ability to get along with family members without resentment
• Self-love and self-acceptance
• A feeling that the world is a safe place
• Better sleep
• Less irrational worry and obsession about the past

I’d say it’s worth giving it a shot! 

How to declutter your emotions

To be able to move forward with your life, consciously manifest dreams and create guilt-free success, you must have a strong foundation. Part of that is mentally and emotionally decluttering your life.

The beauty of this exercise is that you don’t have to physically connect with the person. You don’t have to call them and say “I forgive you”. This exercise is not for them – this is about releasing yourself.

I had to do a whole load of forgiveness work in order to manifest my dream home – read more here.

Here’s a common excuse:

But I just want them to acknowledge what they did to me was wrong

Forgiveness doesn’t mean you excuse or condone their behaviour. Chances are, you will never get the acknowledgement or apology you crave. The only thing you have control over is how you feel about the experience. You’re still drinking the poison – they have moved on with their life.

Some things are unforgivable. Even so, if you’ve been to therapy or counselling and you still can’t let it go, try and send forgiveness to the situation by doing this exercise.

I’ve heard incredible stories of victims forgiving people who raped or maimed them, family members forgiving drunk drivers who killed their children and other “unforgivable” crimes.  

The 3 Step Forgiveness Process

Ready to experience this transformation for yourself? Here’s how you do it:

1. Make a list

Get your journal and make a physical list of every single thing that has been done to you that you can’t forgive. Things that you are holding onto and incidents that have played on your mind for years.

It can be big or small, specific or general. Start with your parents – that’s always a fertile ground for material!

Think about your life chronologically and work your way through any traumatic events, childhood hurts, mistakes made by your family and embarrassments that still create a negative charge for you.

Just write down “When mum did this….” or “The time when…”. You don’t have to write an essay about each one.

Once you’ve written down everything obvious, think about:

• Every relationship problem you’ve ever had
• Mean bosses who criticised you, made you feel bad or made you cry
• Friends who were nasty or bitchy to you
• Strangers who made you feel bad by making a horrible comment
• A teacher who embarrassed you

Write it all down.

Lastly, it’s time to make a list of things to forgive yourself for. This is a really important list because you’d be surprised how much you are beating yourself up for past mistakes. A really small and stupid error you made 5, 10 or even 20 years ago could be holding you back from going out of your comfort zone today.

Here are some examples to get you started:

• You failed something really important
• You mean-girled someone at school and it still haunts you
• The time you dumped someone really nice in a really horrible way
• Gossiping or bitching behind someone else’s back
• When you made someone cry (unintentionally or not)
• You accidentally hurt an animal
• You stole something – no matter how small
• You cheated on a test

Nobody is 100% perfect and even if you think you’re the only person who’s made these mistakes, you could be making it mean:

I’m not a worthy person
I don’t deserve nice things to happen to me
I’m a failure

Do you really want to hang onto that anymore?

2. Use the affirmation

Mentally affirm to that person or situation:

I forgive you
I’m sorry
And I love you

That’s it. You can spend a couple of seconds on each one and then move on. Don’t get caught up in the emotion. You are only saying the affirmation and releasing the memory. You may feel an overwhelming outpouring of sadness, but just continue the process.

I forgive you… evaporates the energy of resentment you hold towards them

I’m sorry… allows you to feel compassion for their side of the story

I love you… balances the energy, sends love to the situation and releases you from being the victim.

Allow emotions to bubble up and tears to flow but keep going until you’ve exhausted the list (and yourself). Afterwards, drink a lot of water and rest.

If you still need support with this, here’s some tips on dealing with old family stuff when it comes up, particularly around big occasions.

3. Check back in

Give it a few days and then revisit your list to see if there is any charge remaining. You’ll be surprised to find that you can’t even recall certain “stories” and if you do, there won’t be any trace of embarrassment or anger.

Watch what happens next.

Things will shift in your real world. You will feel happier and lighter. Don’t be surprised if you get a call out of the blue from someone you’ve forgiven. They will experience the benefits too – they might feel lighter or more loving towards you.

You won’t be seeing that person or situation through a distorted filter anymore. You’ll be free of the chains and open to new possibilities for your relationship. You may never even think of them again, which can be a blessing. You’ve also given yourself a great gift – freedom.

Take it Deeper: More Forgiveness Work to Shift Your Money Blocks

If you’re really on a roll and you get addicted to forgiveness you can continue this experience:

• Forgive money for abandoning you
• Forgive your bank for raising interest rates
• Forgive your thighs and bum for holding onto fat
• Forgive your car for breaking down
• Forgive the Government for their failings
• Forgive the cat for peeing on your bed

There’s no end to forgiveness and after you get the really traumatic events out of the way, it’s fun and so freeing!

I know this simple forgiveness exercise can transform your life. If you do nothing else, go away and try this exercise before you feel skeptical (I forgive you for your skepticism, etc). I assure you, it will work for you – you aren’t some freaky exception.

I forgive you, I’m sorry and I love you.

Denise xx