So a thought came out of my mouth the other day as I was sharing something with an inspiring retreat group:
“What if, there is nothing to forgive?”
It wasn’t something I was expecting to say or had been consciously thinking about, but it is a sentence that hasn’t left me alone since that moment.
I think it comes from the first big earthquake, when, in one minute, I let go of everything. I literally went from sitting in my chair thinking ooh this is pretty big, to the shaking escalating and me dropping everything; phone, laptop, husband, cats, and running full pelt out of my house while looking up at my shaky, roaring (life got loud) ceiling thinking it was going to fall on my head. As I stood outside trying to hold onto the earth that was trying to throw me off it I think it was then that everything just fell away from me.
There was a complete letting go of any old resentment, arguments, or long past stories that I think make me who I am. Because in that moment there was only that moment and me, holding onto my husband while he stopped me trying to run back in to rescue my cat who stayed inside. I think it triggered the thought:
“What if there is nothing to forgive?”
It’s settling in deep in my soul that what if everything that has ever happened to me/you has been exactly what’s meant to happen to me/you to get us to the next level of our lives.
What if that person or situation that “broke” you actually gave you the opportunity to Up-level and live bigger, better, braver lives. What if that shitty person, illness, situation was given to you to push you forward? Then surely there would be nothing to forgive and it would be easier to feel gratitude towards the lesson. What if the worst thing that ever happened to you was really the best thing to happen to you to get you to become the next best version of yourself?
I’m not saying this as someone who has never been through any difficult times or as someone who has found forgiveness easy. I haven’t. I have held onto hurt for many more years than was necessary. But, I have just applied this new way of thinking to those situations and the outcome is quite beautiful. That incident was just playing a part that meant it was given to me as a gift so I could become this version of me! #thisisit #forgivewhat #letgo
“What if there was nothing to forgive?”
