The Power of Forgiveness
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Have you ever downed an entire package of chips, crackers, or cookies? Ate pizza or cake until you felt sick? Drank more coffee or wine than your body wanted?
Do you remember how you were feeling at the time?
I ask because sometimes we overeat or give in to cravings to help distract us from emotional pain. Think about it—have you noticed that sometimes when you overeat you’re not hungry at all? What you are is lonely. Or angry. Or sad. Or resentful. Or frustrated. Or something else.
So what hurt are YOU holding on to?
Tap Into the Power of Forgiveness
Wouldn’t it be more effective to address your uncomfortable feelings? The best, most thorough, most divinely perfect way to do that is forgiveness.
Forgiving is not easy, even for the most enlightened among us. If you’ve been allowing your present health to be controlled by past hurts, I urge you to commit to forgiving. These steps can help:
Talk to sympathetic friends and family about your desire to forgive. Chatting with others is tremendously comforting.
Write a letter to the person you’d like to forgive. You can decide whether or not you send it.
See the situation from the other person’s perspective—your own perspective may change.
Don’t forget to forgive yourself. Sometimes we can be harshest with ourselves.
Understand that you are responsible for your own attitude. Don’t let holding a grudge keep you from feeling free, open, and powerful in your own life.
Forgive and watch how much easier your relationship with eating becomes. Also, watch how much joy comes into your life when you let go of holding others responsible for your feelings.
I remember holding onto "my story” for years about how I was a victim to others who had power over me. I felt helpless in various circumstances, unable to find the strength to stand up for myself.. this played out in my growing up years where I was the youngest and the one who needed to be taken care of. I allowed others to take care of me and that meant not voicing my truth for fear of disappointing the people who were closest to me. In time, as I began to voice my truth more, the differences between me and my family revealed themselves and relationships became to crumble. Many hurts were given out to me and there were many things said that I found hard to forgive. I held onto this “un-forgiveness” for many years until one day I started to do “the work.” I realized I had “my story” and my family each had “their story.” The only way I found to come to peace with everyone and with myself was to understand where they came from, to hold onto my truth and to let go of judgements, etc. I now feel compassion for my family and know they did the best they could do given their upbringing, their fears, etc. One of their biggest fears they had was losing their little girl.. that if I deviated from all that they knew, what would be the result? What they didn’t realize was that the result would have been a very healthy, honest and loving relationship between all of us. When we allow others to be themselves (even if that means they are different from us) and not judge them, real happiness ensues.
I wish you a healthy and happy holiday season.
Stay joyful..
-C