In order to have lives full of happiness and joy, we must deal with our "issues" and lay them to rest.
The negative energy associated with these issues from the past will simply swallow up all the positive thinking in the world.
An issue is a hurt, or resentment affecting other decisions in your life.
Resolving the issues that keep us upset involves dealing with truth.
The real truth.
And, of course, it also involves forgiveness.
Let's take it a step at a time ...
The first concept to be developed here is ...
forgiveness is done for yourself, rather than for the other person.
You may forgive the other person, or not.
But, if you don't, it's you who will suffer most from it.
The other person may go right on and never think about the situation again.
They are oblivious.
Only you are suffering.
And, make no mistake - to harbor resentment is to suffer.
You feel that someone has hurt or harmed you.
Was this deliberate? If not - if it was a misunderstanding, and this is someone you wish to keep in your life - the answer is clear.
The change of perception, in realizing the hurt wasn't deliberately caused, solves the problem.
Mistakes happen.
We all make them.
We forgive easily and move on.
Possibly, the person who caused the hurt truly didn't set out to hurt you, but this person simply hurts others habitually.
This type of personality could come from addictions or simply self-centeredness which always considers the self first.
And finally, whatever happened may, indeed, have been deliberate.
Either of these two types of situations are the types of hurt that grow into resentment - and then, become an "issue.
" With these last two possibilities, a decision needs to be made.
One of the things that makes it so hard to forgive is the fear that the situation will happen again.
We're afraid that the one who hurt us will accept the forgiveness as permission to continue the hurtful behavior.
Handling the issue in this manner gives the other person all power.
We need to make that choice - for ourselves.
If we have a person in our life who will continually hurt us, forgiving them does not mean ignoring that behavior.
It does not mean going back for more.
It means forgiving it and moving on - in a direction away from the hurtful person.
It doesn't mean we continue to put our heads on the chopping block.
In some instances, the forgiven person is never aware they've been forgiven.
Forgiveness is an inside job.
It's done inside the person who was hurt.
Just saying the words is meaningless.
Forgiveness must be felt.
How do you feel forgiveness? By letting go of the resentment and hurt.
By realizing you can't change the past but you can make safe choices for your own future.
You can release the hurt in the knowledge that you can keep yourself safe and away from the situations that caused you pain in the past.
Now, you have the power.
In The MASTER COURSE, you will find information that will help you clear away your issues.
This course will move you away from resentment and unforgiveness.
It will lead you into the mind-sets that allow you to create the life you truly want.