While I was away, I spent time reading, listening to, and watching people whose journeys and messages resonated with me. It was uplifting and affirming. However, the power of their stories is minimized if I don’t share them with you.
Here is one from Caroline Myss, the author, and internationally acclaimed wellness speaker. She has devoted her career to studying why people don’t heal. What she has come to realize, she says, is that ‘the instrument to heal is the soul.’ She asks each of us this question:
“Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to move on from past hurts? Here, Caroline shares a powerful exercise in forgiveness to demonstrate why healing doesn’t begin in the mind, but deep within the soul. First, she tells the audience, think of a person who has done something unforgivable to you. Now, imagine that person walking up to you and saying, “Whoa, bummer! I’m sorry I did this, but, you know, I never meant to hurt you. And, hey, can we just call it a day?”
There’s something about that apology that doesn’t ring true, Caroline says, and you’ll find that there’s still anger festering inside you. “How come that didn’t feel right? How come that didn’t, like, clean up the table? Why? I’ll tell you why. … It’s that there was that whole little thing: ‘I never meant to hurt you.’ That’s the thing you can’t forgive because it goes right to your soul, that toxic, sick feeling that says, ‘What do you mean you never meant to hurt me?’”
Now, what if the scenario played out differently and that person admitted honest regret at their transgression? “Let’s redo the scene,” Caroline says. “[The unforgivable person] comes up to you and says, ‘I need to speak with you. I need to tell you something. I consciously knew what I was doing. I consciously knew it. And I have to call it something else. I sinned against you. It was a sin. I heard my conscience tell me not to do this, and I didn’t listen. And it didn’t matter to me. And I know that my actions redirected the course of your life. It was conscious. That was a sin because it was conscious. And how much it hurt you did not stop me. This is not a boo-boo. This is not an apology. I am confessing my soul to you, and I’m asking now for your forgiveness.’ The depth of that. Did it touch your soul? That’s your soul. That gets the sword out. That’s what heals.”[1]
[1] http://www.supersoul.tv/minisessions/caroline-myss-the-instrument-to-heal-is-the-soul
Until next time, remember,-
You are not alone.
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You are not your circumstances.
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You have everything within you to live a purpose-filled life.