COMING BACK INTO EMPOWERMENT
Forgiveness as a Tool for Empowerment
Candy Batterton
6/19/20262 min read
COMING BACK INTO EMPOWERMENT
I have just gone back over the blogs and had a thought to share with you. I realized as I was retyping it, that when I read it through my old lens, I could see how I use to get angry hearing the things I am sharing.
What I mean by that is, I was very connected to my story/ belief system. The story of my life up till then and I felt judged and frankly I was angry. I was so strong in my conviction (ego and remember ego is not a bad thing, it is what kept me alive) that I would not take any responsibility for what had occurred in my life. I was a victim of circumstance and had no choice in the matter. I was completely disempowered.
Each time we would do another exercise in my meditation group I would get charged and my teacher was grateful. She was grateful because I was really looking at/acknowledging what lived in me. I was gaining knowledge that would put me back into choice/empowerment. For when we are victim to, we have no POWER.
One of the first pearls of wisdom was Forgiveness and that one really pissed me off. How was I to forgive those who wronged me so badly. This was a practice that took me quite a while to process and work with. I took baby steps and I am so grateful I got out of my own way and decided to take the steps toward Freedom.
I had to be tricked into forgiving or pushed so to speak, as she spoke to my inner Brat. She shared with me that if I did not forgive that person, I allowed him to live rent free in my head and that he was a part of every decision I made in my life. Well, that pissed me off more than forgiving. (It can be real fun in my head lol) I began the act of forgiving with this person in general, through gritted teeth at first and then more easily. There were many layers of healing that needed to take place, so I began step by step. And the more I owned that I was in control of my life, the more empowered I became. Realize that forgiveness is a selfish act, it is for you not the other person. It does not mean that you condone their behavior but it means they no longer have power over you, you reclaimed your Power back.
Eventually I was able to get to the gift in it, the reason he was brought into my life in the first place and in the end how it actually most likely saved my life. Our biggest challenges, can be our greatest teachers and catalysts. Forgiveness is one of the first steps to empowerment!