subject: Forgiveness [print this page] Part of the recovery process is changePart of the recovery process is change. Change in our behavior, Change in environment, Change in the words we use, and Change in the way we think. These changes involve most of all forgiveness. To begin this change process we have to believe that we can change. This belief in "self" sets the stage for motivation and the willingness to try. You can start by forgiving yourself.
Many people with addiction issues, alcohol related issues, mental health issues, self esteem issues, and inappropriate activities issues all share one thing in common and that is guilt and shame of some sort. SMART indicates that they tend to fall victim into the self-fulfilling prophecy trap, believing that you cannot change. You are trapped in self-pity, conviction, and blame. Many of us are holding on to events that are eating us up on the inside. Those events are preventing us from concentrating on a change. Some of those events are as old as 20 years or more and we keep holding on to the negativity, the blame, the hurt, the pain, the self-pity, and the conviction and cannot move to better our lives because our beliefs are so strong. If you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses. Change does not happen overnight, forgiveness does not begin in a flash.
True forgiveness is like a cross rode/ victory to a new beginning that makes you giggle, because you are now free. You are no longer carrying excess baggage that has been weighing you down, preventing you from succeeding in life, preventing you from forming healthy relationships, preventing you from getting up, preventing you from smiling, preventing you from moving forward.
Be aware that there is going to be let downs, relapses, slips into negative thinking and or behavior in your journey to change and forgive. These setbacks are part of the changing process. We are not perfect, but we must use these slips in our changing process as knowledge for us to understand how to handle these obstacles.This letting go will provide for focus on the positive
