With Forgiveness: The Art of Forgiving, How to Forgive and be Forgiven

New Intentions for a New Year ( 307 words)
by Susyn Reeve M.Ed.

The New Year is a traditional time to clean the slate and declare your intentions. So today is the perfect time to commit to 2007 being the year that you free yourself from wounds of the past with forgiveness. The starting place to implement this commitment is by identifying the situations and relationships in your life that result in anger, blame, shame and pain when you think about them.

For instance you may be ashamed and feeling hopeless that another year has gone by and you are still carrying that extra-weight. Every time you look in the mirror your may hear your critical ego mind declaring loud and clear, “You are fat. You are just plain lazy, so you might as well eat ‘cause you’re always going to be fat.” This is a clear invitation to forgiveness. Forgiving yourself for the beliefs you have that demean and abuse your body.

Or there may be an old rift between you and your mother. And whenever you think about your Mom you feel a knot in your stomach and you hear a litany of your Mom’s faults being listed in your mind. Yes, it may be true from your point of view that your Mom let you down, abandoned you, or failed and continues to fail to meet your expectations, but how does your anger, disappointment and pain serve you in expanding your experience of peace and happiness?

Once you have made your list, go through it item by item and identify your beliefs. To truly forgive you must free your mind from the beliefs that feed the judgments of your ego mind and create new beliefs that support your hearts desire. Let 2007 be the year that you upgrade the software of your mind and that you are truly for giving compassion, kindness and love to all beings.

You are welcome to reprint this article with the following information at the conclusion of the text:
Susyn Reeve M.Ed. and Sheri Rosenthal DPM are co-authors of WITH Forgiveness - Are You Ready? and co-creators of the WITH Forgiveness program at www.withforgivenessmovie.com. They both enjoy giving workshops, lectures and taking folks on spiritual journeys (you can see them at www.journeysofthespirit.com ), and being extremely happy! You can reach them at www.withforgiveness.com.