(Continued from Part 2.)
So, back to memories…if something happened a second ago, it’s a memory. Gone, over. And it can be good, bad or neutral; yet it was recorded into the mind and it will be stored permanently on your brain’s hard drive tonight when you sleep (healing takes place mostly at night while you are sleeping). So if it was a bad experience, you will want to “neutralize it” and make peace with what happened and how you reacted before you sleep that night. Have someone cup your head while you go through the following “Forgiveness Steps” quietly to yourself before you retire. If you’re amped up, it will be easy to forget…then it gets recorded (with adrenaline and negative emotions) into your RAM (like hitting the SAVE button on your PC) and then it will take professional care and more advanced work to make peace and forgive that memory.
Yes, my patients have called what I do, “Forgiving my memories”. That is an accurate description of what I am teaching you here. Does that make sense? Deal with it today and it goes into your memory detached; or go to bed angry or upset and wake up with it running the show in Fight or Fight stress-mode (and adding on top of previously recorded similar stress scenarios in a common folder)! That is what Scripture means by not letting the sun go down on your wrath (or worry, or disappointment, or doubt).
My best mentor Dr. M.T. Morter, Jr., BS, DC came up with the following Six Steps of Forgiveness and now that he has passed away, I would love to share them with the world, beginning with you today dear reader:
1. Forgive the other person that you think caused the harm- You can do it silently to yourself (in a “religious sense” or a non-religious way). Just do it sincerely and mean it. “I forgive him/ her/ them for whatever they did to me. I choose to cancel the debt and release them, even if they didn’t apologize”. You don’t have to like it, condone it, erase it or understand it! It is over, so deal with it and then surrender it. No revenge or trying to get even (it’s not worth it).
2. Ask for forgiveness from them if you helped cause the trauma or hurt in any way. This would include asking God Almighty for His forgiveness for any part you played in the scenario. “Please forgive me. I am sorry for any harm or bad I have caused.”
3. Forgive yourself for any harm you did to your body, soul or Spirit because of your negative reactions or emotional words spoken in strife. “Body, I forgive myself for harming you in any way by my bad choices or actions.” Then “go forth and sin no more.”
4. Learn the lesson of the moment. Everything happens for a reason, even if it is terrible at the time; therefore, when you actually learn from the past, you can become stronger, smarter, wiser and you may/ will not have to go through a similar experience again. “Life is a school where you get the tests first and the lessons afterwards.”
5. See the good coming out of every bad situation. Yes, even car accidents, deaths and losses. It is Over, so what Good can you focus on? I did not say you had to like it or approve. I am not saying you ignore the pain or hurt or abuse or trauma…I’m saying be thankful you survived. Be thankful it’s over with or be grateful it wasn’t worse. Learn to react better for next time and maybe God will reward you by not allowing a next time. And finally, if you didn’t like how someone treated you…don’t you ever treat someone else like that. That can be the good that comes out of a horrible catastrophe is you learn empathy and compassion. Repent means to turn a 180*
6. Wish the other person/ people well. Do not harbor ill-will and seek revenge (again, it’s not worth it). That would make ACID in your gut and endanger your well-being. “Vengeance is mine saying the LORD.” So, turn the other cheek and go the extra mile by “taking the high road and praying for your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you and spitefully abuse you” and you will become a better person for it! And, in the end (heaven) that is all that really matters anyway (“Well done good and faithful servant.”)
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I’m glad God didn’t say we had to like our enemies.”
And another said, “Not forgiving sometimes is like you drinking poison and hoping that they die from it.”Continue reading“Hands-On Healing – Part 3, by Dr. Derek King, DC”