The focus of today's meditation is forgiveness.
Self-awareness is the practice of continuously looking within and through this practice I've learned the mind can be tricky.
As we grow over the years we developed many different ways to cope with uncomfortable feelings,
Thoughts,
And emotions.
We cover up the real issues with other issues,
Always hiding from the root of the problem.
Today let us practice opening up the heart and filling it with love and compassion.
A bad mental habit that most of us are familiar with,
Especially anyone who suffers from anxiety or depression,
Is rumination.
And the definition of rumination is the focused attention on the symptoms of one's distress and on its possible causes and consequences as opposed to its solutions.
I like to refer to these as negative mental loops.
When you've made a mistake,
When something has gone wrong or someone has hurt you and you can't seem to think of anything other than that,
Over and over,
Thinking,
Why?
Somewhere in these twisted minds we believe that if we continue to think about the problem or the event that is causing us to feel badly that we can somehow control it and be able to find a solution there.
Understand that that state of mind brings no positive results.
We have to make a practice of surrender and allow room for forgiveness.
This is healing.
I would start with a prayer like this.
God,
I give this problem to you,
This hurt,
This negativity,
These thoughts.
I don't know what to do and overthinking isn't bringing me any peace.
Thank you God for guiding me,
Loving me and showing me the best way to handle the grief in my heart.
Amen.
I have found that when I can't stop thinking about something,
The person or event that has caused me distress,
I'm not allowing room for forgiveness.
We have to make forgiveness a regular spiritual practice.
Forgiving others and forgiving ourselves.
I recently found this quote,
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that the prisoner was you.
My personal practice of self-awareness involves finding what blocks inner peace and unforgiveness is one major impediment to peace that we cannot ignore.
If you are on a spiritual path,
You have to understand that unforgiveness and holding grudges is ungodly.
God forgives us endlessly because God is love.
We cannot easily forgive others if we have a habit of holding grudges against ourselves.
With the intention of self-love and compassion and without judgment,
We must begin to look at the mind and see how it works.
Do you judge yourself harshly when things go wrong?
Do you harbor negative thoughts about your body image or your capabilities?
Do you allow yourself to dream even when you have failed in the past?
Have you allowed resentment and regret to thrive within you?
The practice must begin within.
Forgive yourself endlessly.
Love yourself without limits.
With this energy,
We are able to see others more clearly,
Not seeing them as their shortcomings or judging them for their mistakes.
When we have learned to forgive ourselves,
We can forgive others and know that their true worth has not and cannot be diminished.
We must continue to see God in others because that is truth.
See their light as being held hostage by sin,
By the world,
By the mind.
What can you do to help them find freedom?
Shine your light on them.
Practice forgiveness,
Love,
And compassion.
Never stop seeing the light in others and never stop seeing it in yourself.
Let us meditate.
Close your eyes.
Freedom.
I desire freedom for all,
Freedom from suffering,
Freedom from the unkindness that comes from within,
Freedom from the imaginary lines and boundaries and walls that cage in your soul that limit the heart's capacity to give,
That limit the mind's ability to believe.
Forgiveness releases the emotions that are damaging to the soul.
Emotions like hatred,
Resentment,
Regret,
And guilt can affect more than just the body.
They break us down,
Leading to diseases and even an early death.
Every day we must practice forgiveness.
Ask God to search your heart for any grudges that hide there.
Repeat these affirmations and let them really sink into your heart.
I forgive myself for all the times I accepted less than I deserve,
For the times when I did not know my worth,
For the times I could not see clearly,
For not always making the best decisions,
For not always being patient with my process of growth.
I forgive myself for holding grudges,
Guilt,
Shame,
And resentment,
For rejecting my own heart and for the harsh judgment I put myself through.
I also forgive myself for the times when unforgiveness was all I could feel,
When I couldn't see past it and my heart opens for the gratitude I feel as it is released from my spirit.
With this energy I extend compassion to others,
Even those who others have deemed unworthy of forgiveness.
There is good in us all.
Some have good buried so deep in their own darkness.
What they haven't seen in so long they feel it doesn't belong to them anymore.
But it's not true.
Let us continue to see and speak this goodness into others so that they can begin to see it once again for themselves.
Take a moment now and breathe in this forgiveness.
You are worthy of freedom.
Your heart deserves to be free of any restraint.
Feel any weight that has been on your heart be lifted in this moment.
Light is pouring in.
You are making space for more love.
Each time you breathe in you are healing.
More light.
More forgiveness.
More love.
