Authors: Iyanla Vanzant
I F
ORGIVE
M
YSELF FOR
J
UDGING THE
W
ORLD
T
oday’s forgiveness practice addresses our grievances, disappointments, criticisms, and upsets with the world at large. This includes the government, social systems, religious organizations, specific leaders, and the changing policies that affect the public in general, and perhaps you specifically. While we may not recognize how our pet peeves and criticisms about society at large affect our lives, any upset held in consciousness needs to be forgiven.
Remember, all thoughts are energy. All energy creates. Anything that we think about will have an effect. Just as we must forgive ourselves for judging specific people and personal experiences, we can and must release the pent-up energy, upsets, and silent complaints about our world. Releasing any toxic energy that we hold in our minds or hearts opens us to more positive energy and experiences. There is no harmless judgment. If you have a judgment or limiting belief about anyone or anything, forgiveness is required. Today’s practice provides an opportunity to say what you could not say, were afraid to say, or perhaps thought no one cared to hear.
A P
RAYER OF
F
ORGIVENESS
Dear God:
Today, I come to You asking that You open my mind, my heart, my eyes, and my ears to Your presence in the world I see. Today, I ask to think only the thoughts that I think with You and to see You in all people and circumstances. I confess that I have been critical of people and situations that may affect my life in ways I do not always understand. I confess that I have held judgments about people with whom I do not agree and about things that I do not accept. I confess that in certain situations, under certain circumstances, I have been critical, demeaning, and dismissive of people, their opinions, and convictions when they do not mirror what I believe. I have fought to be right about what I believe while judging other people wrong about what they believe. I confess I have engaged in the energy of against-ness, harbored upsets, and uttered criticisms that have been unkind, unloving, and in some cases attacking as a way to justify a position held in my mind. Today, I ask to be forgiven for it all as I forgive others. Today, I choose to see the world and all people with the eyes of love, acceptance, and peace.
I lay down all of my weapons today.
I rest in Thee today.
I let it be!
And so it is!
– I F
ORGIVE
M
Y
M
IND FOR
T
HINKING
–
EXAMPLE
I forgive my mind for thinking that all politicians are crooks who do not serve the people who elected them.
I forgive my mind for thinking
about
I forgive my mind for thinking
about
I forgive my mind for thinking
about
I forgive my mind for thinking
about
– I F
ORGIVE
M
Y
M
IND FOR
J
UDGING
–
EXAMPLE
I forgive myself for judging the world for the terrorists that it never captures.
I forgive myself for judging the world for
I forgive myself for judging the world because
I forgive myself for judging the world when
I forgive myself for judging the world when
– I F
ORGIVE
M
YSELF FOR
B
ELIEVING
–
EXAMPLE
I forgive myself for believing that all people who receive government aid are lazy and undeserving.
I forgive myself for believing
about
I forgive myself for believing
about
I forgive myself for believing
about
I forgive myself for believing
about
– T
APPING
S
EQUENCE
–
Review Basic
Tapping Sequence
Guidelines.
– R
EFLECTIONS
–
Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.
—M
ARTIN
L
UTHER
K
ING
, J
R
.
Congratulations, Beloved!
Y
ou are now entering the final stages of your forgiveness practice. Now that you have forgiven yourself for the judgments and limiting beliefs you have held, the time has come to ask for and claim forgiveness from others. For the final three days of your practice, you will be writing Forgiveness Letters to specific people from whom you require forgiveness. You are not required to mail these letters, nor will you need to speak to the people involved about this practice. The purpose of these letters is to provide you with yet another opportunity to clear your mind and heart of any lingering toxic residue. Having forgiven yourself, asking for and claiming forgiveness from others is the next essential step in your total healing.
You are encouraged to complete one letter a day for the next three days, to anyone, including yourself, from whom you need forgiveness. Once you have completed the letter, you are encouraged to transform it by burning it, burying in, tearing it into pieces, flushing it, or deleting it from your computer. With any of these actions, you are not destroying the letter. Instead, you are transforming it and the energy it carries. As you write each letter, you are encouraged to have a clear and irreversible intention to be healed.
T
here are many ways that I have hurt and harmed others, have betrayed or abandoned them, caused them suffering, knowingly or unknowingly, out of my pain, fear, anger, and confusion. Let yourself remember and visualize the ways you have hurt others. See the pain you have caused out of your own fear and confusion. Feel your own sorrow and regret. Sense that finally you can release this burden and ask for forgiveness. Take as much time as you need to picture each memory that still burdens your heart. And then as each person comes to mind, gently say: “I ask for your forgiveness, I ask for your forgiveness.”