Our powers of reason are among the greatest challenges to healing because our rational mind insists on discovering an explanation for why things happen as they do.

Reason is the joker of our existence. It is the storyteller, the poet of rationality, and the master of our fate.  It holds us in bondage to beliefs and experiences that may not serve our best interests, and limits our expression because it needs to be right.

Our powers of reason are inventions of the mind as it tries to make sense of everything that has ever happened to you, both good and bad. But reason overlooks one important fact: sometimes there is no reason. By accepting this you move beyond the realm of reason to acceptance of a higher power that has no boundaries.  You can call it God, or you can call it divine energy, but at some level of your existence, beyond the mind, you embrace a space that ‘is’ without reason.

Healing the past demands that you forgive the past, accept what cannot be changed in your life, surrender any personal agenda on how your life should be, and learn to be completely present in the now.

This is easier said than done, but when you consider your past wounds they frequently came out of humiliation, abandonment or rejection, and probably loss.  When we are wounded as children we are left with scars that run deep, and a burning desire for revenge that all too often ends up in damaging behavior that ruins our chances of living a full, passionate life.  The people who harmed you were influenced by forces that had nothing to do with you.  But their refusal to forgive only perpetuated the burden of self-abuse that you ultimately carry.

When you forgive someone for the wrongs they did against you, you are letting go of the wounds that have limited you during your lifetime.  You are releasing the demons that control your emotional life, and moving on.  Life is not fair. It’s that simple. Acting out of ignorance is the sole reason most people continue to perpetuate the same patterns of pain with their offspring. Learning how to let go of the negativity releases future generations from the same infliction.  We inherit the sins of our fathers and mothers, but we can choose to refuse the inheritance.

All acts of forgiveness begin with a choice to let go.

Ultimately, we need to forgive those who abused us, whether it was actual or perceived.  But forgiveness flies in the face of the biblical declaration of an eye for an eye.  This defeats reason because to quote a cliché, two wrongs don’t make a right. The only path to forgiveness is in surrendering the need for revenge.

But forgiveness is more than just letting go of the harm others have inflicted upon you, but speaks directly to a change of consciousness that spreads beyond the limitations of your physical body, to the world you inhabit at large.  Learning how to forgive is also about letting go of fear.

When we can let go of our fears and embrace the uncertainty of the future, we are standing in the present moment.  There is nothing more real than now.  It is the only tangible evidence we have of our existence.  Everything else is a product of the mind.  Yesterday is but a memory, and the future resides in our imagination.  The only truth is the one you are presently standing in.

When we forgive the past, we are opening up the future to endless possibilities.  Learning how to do that is the gift we give ourselves in this moment.

Carolyn Myss, author of ‘Defy Gravity’ says, “Forgiveness is beyond reason. You must learn how to draw on another kind of power within you to carry out this transformation.”

Learning how to forgive is the single most transformative experience towards living a fulfilled life.