The Greatest Gift of All?

Yet another new year has arrived and is waiting to unfold its adventures, challenges and blessings. Many of us get inspired to set new goals and intentions aiming to improve ourselves, our health and our lives. The top three New Year’s Resolutions in my part of the world are: to stress less, to eat healthier and to exercise more (any of them sound familiar?). Regardless of who you are stress levels, eating habits and exercise are all factors that play a key role in your health and wellbeing. But, there is also another factor that affects our health in a major way, one that is not discussed as often or as openly as exercise. I am talking about forgiveness and the gift of forgiving.

There are many questions around forgiveness. What is forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive someone? Why is it so difficult? Should you forgive someone who has not even come close to saying “I am sorry”? Maybe he or she does not even feel sorry! What if I do not want to forgive? Are there things that are unforgivable?

The topic of forgiveness often stirs up strong emotions and a variety of different opinions. Whatever our take on the topic, it is clear that unforgiveness affects us and our health and wellbeing in a very negative way. In my work as a Quantum Techniques (www.QuantumTechniques.com) practitioner within the field of energy medicine I often see examples of how unforgiveness can be an effective block to healing both physical and emotional issues for a person.

It sucks - doesn’t it?! As if it was not bad enough already with the horrible stuff you had to endure; the same stuff that started your strong emotions and the whole unforgiveness issue to begin with! “It is not fair” you might think. “It was not my fault and I have already suffered. Why should I now also have to pay for it over and over again?!”

I do not claim to have all the answers within this topic of forgiveness. Neither do I intend to completely cover all aspects of it in this article. But, I do have some things I would like to share with you that are different aspects of forgiveness you might like to consider. Who knows, they might give you some new perspectives. Sometimes a changed perspective is all we need to experience a new life!

1. The upside. Remember, there is an upside to the fact that unforgiveness affects our health negatively: we do have the possibility to choose forgiveness over unforgiveness and that way we can improve our health!

2. Forgiveness is not for sale or trade. If you ask me forgiveness should not be conditioned. For example, “I forgive her if she shows remorse or if she says ‘I am sorry’”. What you are doing then is giving away the power over your health and wellbeing to another person! A person who has already hurt you and a person who might never show remorse or say that she is sorry. Maybe she does not even realize that she hurt you! You might have to wait your whole life to hear what you are waiting for; or longer as the person in question might not even be alive!

3. Forgiving is not condoning. To forgive someone does NOT mean that you are saying that what he/she did was okay! It simply means that you have decided not to spend any more energy on that event. You have decided to let go of the past and move on!

4. Own your power! By choosing forgiveness you take charge over your life and your wellbeing.

5. Forgiveness is a gift – for YOU! To choose forgiveness is something you do for you. It is a gift you can give to anyone but whoever you choose to forgive, the greatest gift is bound to end up at your doorstep. You are the one who has to pay the highest price if you do not forgive; not the other person. Like someone once said: “To not forgive is like drinking a little bit of poison every day, hoping that the other person dies”! This is one example of the fact that you can do no violence toward another - even in thought - without first doing violence toward yourself.

6. Forgive yourself! Sometimes it is ourselves that we have to forgive. That can be even more difficult since we often tend to be very hard on ourselves. But think about it and you will see that you then have all the more reason to forgive!

7. Energy medicine helps you pave the way! Often it can seem difficult or even impossible to forgive. With modern energy medicine tools like Quantum Techniques it does not have to be difficult anymore! With subtle stimulation of acupressure points you can quickly release any trauma or trapped emotion (for example anger, grief or fear) that is energetically stuck in your body and mind. With that out of the way you are free to choose a new perspective on what happened and freely decide how you want to interpret your story of your life.

I do think that forgiveness is a great gift for yourself, perhaps the greatest of them all. I hope you now know that it does not have to be difficult and that you deserve it! And remember whatever day your calendar says it is, it is always possible to make a fresh start and let a new life begin!