SJennyToday’s Journal Prompt: Are you ready to face the hurt caused by others or an event? How are you feeling, use the feeling wheel to be more clear. Journal it out. All of the thoughts, confusions, hurts, feelings… all of it!
Today we’re going to tackle one of the hardest parts of the forgiveness process. Forgiveness, as we’ve established in some of the previous posts of this 30 Day Challenge, is about letting go of the anger and pain so you can move on with your life. Before that can happen though, you have to face the hurt. That’s what today’s post is all about. Are you ready to face the pain caused by others or an event?
If you don’t know exactly what you’re facing and you have just a vague feeling what this is about, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what you need to forgive. As a result, your attempt at forgiveness will be just as vague. Your challenge today is to sit down, think about what happened, and let it all in. (Maybe even take a peek at the Feelings Wheel so you can get more clear on what exactly you are feeling!)
It’s not easy to let that pain in. Often our default reaction is to push it to the back of our mind and not really deal with it. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this isn’t always a good idea. You have to want to open up and think about what happened. Be honest with yourself. Be detailed. Pay attention to how you feel and realize that what you’re feeling right now is the worst of it. This is as bad as it’s going to get. From here on out, the healing will begin and you will come out on the other end of this experience stronger and happier than ever. You have likely heard the saying, “You gotta feel it, to heal it!” Journal it out. All of the thoughts, confusions, hurts, feelings… all of it!
Confront the pain and then choose the path of forgiveness so you can start to let it go. It’s a very powerful experience because you’re the one in control. You’re the one choosing to not let the anger and pain control you anymore. Your choices, your actions, your feelings, and everything else that makes up your life is no longer shaded by the pain lingering in the back of your head. You’re facing it and you’re actively working your way through it. That’s powerful stuff.
Do whatever it takes to face and work through the pain and anger. Talk to a friend, close family member or even a counselor. Confront the person who’s done you wrong if that’s your cup of tea. Write it down, or just have a good cry. Scream, yell, and let it all out. Trust me, it feels much better to release the pain than to continue to hang on to it. You’ll notice a difference in how free and relieved you feel right away. And that’s what this process of forgiveness is really all about.
It’s time to lighten the load you carry. You’ve got this!
