surrender
The Empowering Wisdom Of Forgiveness
Although I consider myself a very spiritual person, forgiveness has not always been one of my strengths. In fact, I used to struggle with forgiving those who had hurt or wronged me.
Fortunately, as I matured in my spiritual evolution, I eventually realized that by not letting go of negative events and experiences in my past, I was only being haunted and held captive by them, which was not serving my highest good.
For several years, I was stuck in a downward cycle of replaying certain past events in my mind, reliving every excruciating detail and allowing the past to negatively influence the present and my future. Over time, it became clear that this issue was holding me back in more ways than I could have imagined.
To find some answers, I decided to shift the focus of my spiritual practice for a few months to consult my guides on this issue. During this time, spirit guided me as follows.
Letting Go
To truly forgive, we must let go of the past. There is no true forgiveness if we still somehow hold on to the smallest regret or resentment. Forgiveness is all, or nothing. There are no half measures or gray areas.
Forgiveness is more than just an emotional healing process, it is also an empowering metaphysical practice. If we do not release something completely, we continue to hold some level of negative energy that continues to affect our current vibration, which diminishes our quality of life and negatively affects our future happiness.
Friends For A Reason, A Season, Or A Lifetime
I recently reconnected with a family friend with whom I had a very close relationship about three decades ago. She was like a mother figure in some ways, even though she was only about 12 years older than me at the time.
She is a very caring and nurturing person and was always there for me when my own mother was physically or emotionally unable. Her door was always open and she always had many people around her. After working in retail for many years, she changed careers to become a full-time caregiver, which she loved. After she retired and her husband passed away, she continued to be very active and had a very vibrant social life.
But during the Covid-19 pandemic, like many people her age, she experienced intense isolation and trauma. We spoke frequently on the phone during this time, and she was very much looking forward to the restrictions finally being lifted.
However, when the worst was over and most restrictions were lifted, her group of friends remained afraid to go out. Some of them even developed agoraphobia, a type of anxiety disorder that causes people to experience extreme, irrational fear of public places and unpredictable situations that they imagine could cause them harm, panic, or helplessness.
My dear friend was deeply affected by this. Seeing all her friends again was one of the things that kept her strong and hopeful through the chaos of the pandemic. But now she felt she had lost her tribe (beyond her family, who all have busy, demanding lives of their own and live several hours away). Fortunately, she is a determined soul who will not easily accept defeat and apparently she is gradually getting more of the old gang together for their usual fun meet-ups!
How To Manifest Your Best Life
As spiritual beings in physical form, we are the conscious creators of our best life and have the divine power to shape our own destiny. We create our future every day with our free will. But contrary to what some believe, this is not just a matter of positive thinking, daydreaming, or casually wishing for a better future without being proactive.
To achieve what we want in life, we must take daily action steps that will lead to the achievement of our goals and manifest the results we desire.
If you have been wishing for a better life and a brighter future with little success, the following strategies can empower you to achieve better results. By implementing these tactics gradually, one day at a time, you will see a major change in your life.
Gratitude
Gratitude is the mother of all manifestation efforts. When we are grateful for what we already have, we attract more of what we want.
Seems simple, right? Yet we easily forget to count our blessings and tend to be very ungrateful. Instead of celebrating what is good in our lives, we tend to focus on what is wrong or missing. When we are constantly sulking or complaining, we are self-sabotaging because wherever our focus goes, energy flows.
Learning To Forgive
Accepting, letting go and forgiving is difficult, but necessary to thrive and live our best life. When we do not forgive, we carry toxic energy within that poisons us mind, body and soul.
Energetically non-forgiveness wreaks havoc in our chakras that can cause physical disease and mental illness. Our chakras store the energies of negative life events and experiences, if we do not release it, and heal those imbalances and blockages.
Forgiving does not mean we condone or exonerate the evil deeds of others, nor do we have to allow the people who have wronged us back into our life. This is seldom wise.
However, it is also not karmically smart to harbor resentment, seek vengeance, or wish others harm…for it will come back to us. Forgiveness is to surrender control and allowing karma to deal with those who wronged us.
When we forgive and release the trauma others have caused us, their choices and actions can no longer control us, nor steal our happiness, joy, and well-being. This is why forgiveness is the best gift we can give to ourselves.
Forgiveness does not set the wrongdoer free or exempt them from their karmic debt. Instead, we set ourselves free, so that their karmic choices no longer interfere with our energetic well-being and our divine right to manifest our best life. When we do not forgive and move on, it will continue to haunt us. It gradually infiltrates and contaminates every aspect of our life, and even causes us to attract more of the same unwanted experiences.
Painting As A Powerful Spiritual Practice
As a visual artist, I find painting to be a powerful tool for spiritual growth and manifestation. Art has been used as a medium for self-expression and energy channeling for centuries. Painting in particular is an enlightening way to tap into one’s innermost thoughts and feelings and connect with your higher self.
One of the ways that painting can be particularly helpful in growth and healing is that it offers a way for us to let go of what no longer serves us. We too often hold onto old traumas, fears, and limiting beliefs that keep us stuck in negative patterns. Channeling these toxic thought patterns and emotions into art can help us to release it and create space for new energy to flow in.
The act of painting itself can be deeply meditative and calming, allowing the artist to quiet the mind and tap into their intuition. When we allow ourselves to be mindful and entirely present in the moment and focus solely on the act of creating, we access a state of energetic flow that is incredibly soothing, healing, and transformative.
Additionally, painting can be used as a powerful tool for manifesting. When we create art with a specific intention in mind, we are essentially using our thoughts and imagination to give physical form to that intention. Making an original painting is much more powerful and intentional than creating a vision board, for example. By painting images and scenes of the things we desire, we are sending a clear message into the universe that we are ready to receive it.
How To Access Universal Flow
In the spiritual community it is often said that one must aim to constantly be in ‘universal flow,’ but what does it actually mean? And how can one achieve this state of ‘flow?’
If you personally haven’t experienced this, I can assure you it truly is as amazing as you may have heard it described. It is a blessed state in which opportunities flow in effortlessly, and joy, connection and well-being abound.
Being in flow gives us access to wisdom and understanding in a way we just don’t see when we aren’t riding that divine wave. It feels like one is prepared for absolutely anything in life!
But what exactly is universal flow, and how can you tap into it?
‘Universal flow’ means you are tapped into the divine guidance that is always available to us, and you are in alignment with your path, purpose, and the divine flow of the creative life force. It means that you are tapped into this flow of sacred energy and allowing it to guide your choices and your perception. It is a surrender to the benevolent will of God, Source, Spirit, the Divine, and coming into alignment with to the limitless flow of abundance and well-being in the Universe.
In this state of allowing, the right people, opportunities, and resources can flow into your life, for you to access and make use of as needed. It can provide you with everything you need to manifest your dreams and fulfill your purpose.
Have Faith In A Better Future
I received a vital message from spirit today during my daily meditation. Spirit showed me that many people have become extremely anxious and worried in recent years. Many souls are making themselves sick with stress, apprehension, and fear about the state of the world and what the future may hold.
But spirit reassured me that there is absolutely no need for us to do this. My guides also reminded me that most of the things we worry about never end up happening. We live in an abundant, benevolent universe that always returns everything to balance and harmony. The sun will always come out again tomorrow, or the day after.
So, how do we deal with our overwhelming worries and concerns? It starts with our spirituality. If we choose not to believe that the universe is a safe, generous place that rests in the palm of God, Spirit, Source, the Divine’s hand, then it is very difficult to have hope and trust in the future. And when we have no faith, hope or trust, we feel we must try to be in control of everything ourselves. This need for control leads to negative thoughts, constant worry and anxiety, and even paralyzing fear.
The answer is to let go and let God, focus only on the now, and only attempt to control those things that you can control. Trying to constantly change and control the rest of the world and ‘play god’ in our mind is pointless and energetically draining.
Instead, we should direct our focus and attention to positive, uplifting things that we can change and control. Rather than lament everything we feel may be wrong in the world, we can find ways to help make it better.
Instead of dwelling on everything that is not working for us, we can take a new perspective and start doing some things to contribute. We have the power as spiritual beings to become part of the solutions, instead of just adding to the problems.