Forgiveness Is Freedom

Let’s talk about that uncomfortable act that isn’t too often celebrated, forgiveness. Yes, I am aware that the thought of forgiving those who have wronged us in the past is not the least bit appealing to most. Yet, here I am, challenging you to change your perspective on your notion of forgiveness. You see, sometimes when we’re going through a healing phase, it entails exploring any trauma and emotions that may come to the surface so that the energy can be processed and released from the body, making room for new energy to come into your energetic vortex, ergo your life. When this suppressed energy gets released from the body, the soul begins to heal. Every single individual has a different way of doing this. For some people, this can be achieved through talking about it and venting. For some people, it can be achieved through exercising and putting their internal frustrations into physical external force. However, when this suppressed energy finally begins to resurface, we can very easily get caught in a mental loop of doom.

Analyze, Acknowledge, Accept

The mental loop of doom sometimes occurs when emotions and old energy begin to resurface so that we are able to analyze, acknowledge, and accept it in order to release the energy from our energetic vortex. Something (the act) typically tends to trigger us into analyzing how we’re feeling, whether it be anger, resentment, bitterness, etc. Once we analyze our emotions we then shift over to the acknowledgment aspect. We acknowledge how we feel, we acknowledge why we feel the way we feel. We then can accept what has transpired, our emotions, and we can then move past this energy by releasing it.

The thing is that sometimes it’s very easy to get caught in the loop of our past traumas when we’re passing through this experience. Most often not, it’s easy to fall into the cycle of constantly complaining over the past transgressions that occurred in our life in which we felt short-changed, small, powerless, and as though we experienced some sort of injustice. When we’re going through this healing process, we at some point have to acknowledge that maybe we didn’t deserve a certain treatment that we received. Maybe we deserved a lot better. Choosing forgiveness is choosing to heal and not remain stagnant. Choosing forgiveness means choosing to process that trauma no matter how uncomfortable that might be. When you do this, you begin to shift out of that old energy by accepting that what happened is now in the past and accepting that there’s nothing that you can really do to change it because it’s already happened. That’s why it’s called the past. Now this doesn’t suddenly make any injustices okay. This doesn’t mean that it’s fine if someone did you wrong. It just means you are no longer giving it so much power and control over you to the point in which you constantly complain or ruminate over it. Continuing to complain about it is to keep reliving it and allowing yourself to remain in an emotional state of stagnancy and idleness because you’re keeping yourself prisoner to the past viscerally. Yes, perhaps it was unfortunate but that was then and this is now. It is important to process the emotions that come to the surface, but there also has to be a point in which you tell yourself, “Do I want to keep repeating this story internally and keep living in the past or do I actually want to initiate a change in my life for the better”. Initiating a change for the better can look like stepping into present moment awareness, to begin living in the now by shifting your thoughts and leaving the past, in the past.

 “Forgiveness which is the deliberate letting go of bitterness, resentment, and the need to punish those who have harmed and offended you”

– Ngas

Like Ngas stated in the quote above, you can’t release until you choose to forgive. Otherwise, these emotions will likely continue to surface and take over your mindscape until explored. Forgiveness, like most complex emotionally driven acts, entails mindfulness because it is when you can question the quality of the thoughts your brain is producing that you can then shift into the energy of forgiveness.  

Forgive those that hurt you, forgive yourself.

Nourishing The Soul

When you can accept the events of the past, then you can move over into forgiveness. If you’re wondering why forgiveness even matters, this is why: Forgiveness is an act that brings up some pretty sticky emotions like hate or resentment. When you harbor hate or resentment within your body, not only is this impacting your nervous system negatively, but it’s also hurting your soul. Forgiveness is an act of courage. When you choose forgiveness, you alchemize any anger or resentment and transmute it into energy that is so much more beneficial for you. This is why forgiveness is for you, and not for the other person. Chances are if you’re feeling hatred, bitterness, or a need to punish someone who’s done you wrong, then you’re probably spending a good amount of time thinking about this person or situation. Whether justified or not, it’s not conducive to your well-being. This is time that you could be pouring into yourself. Into loving yourself and into growing more in alignment with your goals and what you want for your life. Where focus goes, energy flows. If your focus keeps going on the resentment, bitterness, hatred, or intensely negative emotion that you have for an individual or a situation then chances are it keeps resurfacing in your mental because there’s some sort of unresolved issue that needs to be explored. This is an indication that something is needing to be worked through. When this resurfacing energy is analyzed, acknowledged, and accepted, and I mean when you truly choose to finally accept and forgive, the internal mental loop of doom issue resolves itself. It ends the internal battle that you’re trying so desperately to win. This is because you set yourself free when you choose to forgive someone. Forgiveness means you’re leveling up because you’re no longer holding on to all that outdated energy, and you’re making space for new exciting opportunities. Of course, this takes time, forgiveness is not an overnight act. Forgiveness takes active mindfulness and intentional present moment awareness so that we’re able to catch ourselves when we have thoughts that are not conducive to the act (forgiveness) that we are intentionally choosing to reinforce. Because it takes time for our brains to create those new neural pathways, or write the new story we are reiterating to ourselves internally.

Having to forgive someone entails that you’ve probably been hurt in some capacity. Your emotions are always true to you, which makes them valid. However, holding onto these emotions of anger and resentment, very rapidly becomes a downward slope as you do more harm to yourself than others. It’s important to take time and process your emotions, but it’s just as important to know when to free yourself from the burden of repeating the same cycle internally. This means knowing when to release these emotions, and no longer harboring them within your body. The nervous system keeps the score of our past traumas, after all. The act that caused you to experience this pain can’t be undone, but forgiveness can help alleviate you to an extent from the intensity of the energetic hold the act has on you. Forgiveness does not entail that the perpetuator is absolved of their wrong doings, it doesn’t make an in-just situation okay, it simply allows you to release the energy from your body and energetic field so that it no longer burdens you and acts as a heavy weight on your back. You nourish your soul when you choose forgiveness.

Freeing Yourself

Emotions are not meant to be held onto, they act as a trigger that helps us better understand our visceral dimensions, process any emotions that come to the surface. Allow yourself to feel through that pain, anger, resentment, and anything else that surfaces and then release it. Don’t keep harboring old energy in your body. Analyze, Acknowledge, Accept, and then release. If you keep having negative thoughts pertaining to the person or situation that you are trying to forgive, you have to shift the narrative by interrupting that intrusive voice running rampant within your mind. Whenever that little voice appears and begins to get loud with intrusive thoughts, challenge it. Rewrite your internal story whenever this happens. For any negative thought that populates in your mind, tell yourself: “I choose forgiveness for me. I choose to move forward with my life and I choose to no longer live in the past. I choose to heal. I choose freedom.”

Because forgiveness and acceptance is freedom. 🤍

The intention behind this blog post is to influence the reader and to challenge their perspective on forgiveness. In doing so, I hope the reader is encouraged to forgive someone today, bringing us all closer and cultivating more love within the collective consciousness. As Bob Marley once stated, “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just have to find the ones worth suffering for.”