Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Oct/Nov 2017 Aspire Mag Full Issue: Feminine Wisdo | Page 69
That’s why Step 5 is Start Anew.
Over the years Paul and I have developed
a 5-Step Forgiveness Process™, which has
helped thousands of students find freedom
from the past! I hope one day, you will give
yourself the gift of experiencing our entire 5
step process!
Today, I’m going to share three key pieces with
you so you can begin to release any past hurts
or betrayals, start anew in your relationship,
and create your unshakable love!
Whether you need to forgive yourself, your
partner, an ex, or anyone else in your life, this
process works! It’s time to wipe the slate clean
and start anew. You deserve this freedom!
It’s time to understand
what forgiveness really is.
Whenever I tell my students that anything
can be forgiven, many are skeptical and
some are downright unwilling, “Stacey, I
can’t let that go - you have no idea what they
did to me!”
And I get it - some people have been through
really horrific, traumatic experiences. Please
understand I’m not making light of that at all!!
Very often, this resistance to forgive comes from
a misunderstanding of what forgiveness really is.
1
The First Obstacle
to Forgiveness
What IS forgiveness?
Years ago I was listening to Oprah talk about
forgiveness and she shared a definition
that blew me away!! It totally changed my
perspective on forgiveness and empowered
me in a whole new way! Today, I’m going to
pay that gift forward by sharing it with you.
The true definition of forgiveness is:
“FORGIVENESS IS GIVING UP THE
HOPE THAT THE PAST COULD
HAVE BEEN ANY DIFFERENT THAN
IT ACTUALLY WAS.”
– OPRAH WINFREY
Too many people suffer because they
believe that forgiveness means saying what
the other person did to them is fine; as if
they’re saying, “Oh, yeah…that thing that
you did? It’s ok.”
That’s NOT what forgiveness is!
Forgiveness is simply giving up the HOPE
that the past could have been any different
than it was.
Many people obsess over thoughts like,
“They could have…. They should have…
If only they did _____, …then they wouldn’t
have hurt me and I wouldn’t still be suffering!”
The problem is, we cannot go back and
change the past.
None of us can. We are powerless to change
what has already happened. It’s over and done.
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Starting Anew is about wiping the slate clean,
releasing all hurts, betrayals, pain, and things
not yet forgiven. By definition, when there
are things that have come between you, it
creates separateness and distance. You can’t
get to a place of intimacy and unshakable
love if there are things driving you apart and
un-forgiveness is one of the biggest things I
see destroying relationships today!