The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Todays reading is about finding a path to forgiveness in a seemingly impossible situation. The writer describes being a victim of abuse by her alcoholic father. Her life to a certain point was simply living with the trauma, not dealing with the thoughts and feelings related to it. At age 52 she came to Al Anon and began working the steps. As she started to feel forgiven for the wrongs she had committed in her life, she began to see the possibility of finding forgiveness for her father. She felt a spiritual awakening: if God could forgive her for mistakes, she could find a way to forgive her father for his. This provided a way for her to have a way to find a relationship with her father before his death.
This reading made me thing about how stuck I have felt when unable to forgive someone for a situation from the past. I consider myself an expert on how to hold a grudge, and I have to work hard to find ways out of being mired in that. There is a certain type of freedom in forgiveness, and the idea presented here that realizing our own faults can be forgiven, therefore others faults can be forgiven, is most freeing of all!
The Thought for the Day gives us: Self-forgiveness often clears the path to forgiving others. And from As We Understood (p.62): The peace that comes with forgiveness is the serenity we learn in Al-Anon.
Thanks Mary for the reading and to everyone for their shares. I agree with sunny, this is definitely a complicated one. Self care ties in well for me with the topic of forgiveness. Also, resentment. I can forgive others and myself despite not fully understanding motivations for actions but there are instances when it feels more matter of fact than felt from the heart. In other words, I forgive them upon reflection that we are all imperfect human beings including myself but that about where it ends.
I'm grateful for Al-anon tools to help me inventory and make better choices odaat. Concerning wrongs, we all have our own higher power to whom/which we answer. Mine is a higher power that loves and forgives me without condition. Admittedly, it takes daily practice to love myself and others in this manner.
With my own mistakes and failings, I continue to I seek conscious contact with my higher power to surrender it. I'm grateful to believe, trust, feel safe to share with the God of my understanding. With humility, I seek answers. The spiritual connection, bond between myself and my hp continues to grow. I'm grateful. The wrongs of others or myself lose power to irreparably harm me when I make conscious contact and Let Go and Let God. I trust my hp will continue to guide me with emotional clarity about forgiveness of myself and others.
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Surround yourself with people and elements that support your destiny, not just your history.
Good Afternoon Everyone. Thank you Mary for your service/ESH and all the shares. Initially I was not thrilled about this topic today...too complicated. When I revisited the board, subsequent shares shifted my thoughts/mood. It came to me that forgiving old wounds expedite healing in new ones. The hardest person to forgive was my mom. Thankfully, she never gave up on me no matter how long (30 plus years) I hung on to resentments. We now enjoy a close relationship and when I am hurting , I seek her guidance. By reconciling with her, I find it easier to be willing to forgive in the present. I don't want to waste opportunities to live in peace. Thanks for the reminder that it is a daily practice because some days I think all is forgiven and then, something happens .... Have a great day.
