A Simple & Powerful Writing Exercise on Forgiveness

Posted by Julette Millien at 8/24/2008 9:29 AM
Categories: Forgiveness Exercise
A comment at my blog this past week from Gail Goodwin of http://www.inspiremetoday.com reminded me of  a powerful and effective exercise....the "what if you knew"  exercise which has a way of  expanding the way we think of things.  

I would ask a question and the client (and often done with our children too) would say "I don't know."  I would say "Well, if you knew the answer what would it be?"  Taken by surprise the person would always come up with something.

Gail's comment merged with this exercise,  and led to the following.    Thank You Gail!

This simple exercise is powerful if you're open and receptive. 

All you need is the willingness a pen and some paper.  Try it!

Here it is: A Simple Writing Exercise - No forgiveness required ☺
1) Think of a person (could be you if it is) who you are somewhat peeved with or very annoyed with. Someone who has disappointed you...

2) Write that person's name at top of a blank page - preferably in your forgiveness journal (if you're really interested in this topic, having a place to store your thoughts, insights and intentions is, well... you know how important that is)

3) If you are prepared to release the negative emotions surrounding this person, do so. Write about the decision to forgive.

4) If you're not, write the amount of time you think you will need to get to the point where you will decide to forgive. A week? month? 2 months?

5) Now, what would it take for you to reduce that length of time by half? Just write about it.

6) Keep asking yourself "what would it take to half the time" until you get to this moment. (cut time in half)

7) Review what you've written, making no judgments about your
needs/feelings.  Write more if you are so moved.

 If you do this exercise with commitment, you will gain some real insight about where you stand and what it would take to move forward. It is not designed to force a decision - not possible anyway.

The light that you shed on the decision making process and on the emotions involved will serve you well as you move forward.

Let me know how it works for you.

In Light and With Love,
Julette
♥♥♥

 

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