I want to copy/paste this whole article so everyone can read it! Here are a few bites :)) Many of us have things we aren’t too happy about in our past. Attitudes we’ve held, which now we’re glad to have outgrown. Actions taken, words said—by us, or to us—that we just wish had never happened. On the surface, it seems that there’s nothing to be done about it. But if we dig a little deeper, we really can be freed of the hold those experiences seem to have on us. I’ve learned that the only hold the past can have on us today is how we’re thinking about it now. About a month ago, I found myself really wanting to be free once and for all of something that bothered me every time I remembered it. However, it wasn’t just a single event. It was memories of a relationship with someone. Although the relationship started out with a lot of love and joy, it twisted and morphed until it became something regrettable. The relationship had been over for years, but every time the other person or any part of the relationship came to mind, I had this “yucky” feeling. I had talked with my Christian Science teacher about how I could dismiss those unhelpful thoughts and feelings through prayer, so I did that whenever things came to mind, but they still kept coming to me. It seemed as if those memories were just unpleasant, irremovable parts of my life. Here’s how I worked through that process: I took out a notebook. I got quiet and still, and I let myself recall anything and everything about that relationship—something I realized I generally tried not to do. As tough moments would come to mind, I would listen for a thought reminding me of any good that had been going on. Then I would write down the spiritual qualities and attributes that came to me. When regret surfaced—for example, the regret that at one point I’d let the relationship suddenly start up again against my better judgment—I listened to God. Thoughts came to me that despite the fact that our actions and choices had become misguided along the way, the mutual desire for comfort and acceptance had been good. It was also good that each of us recognized in the other the warmth of affection we could offer as expressions of God, Love. So for this memory, I wrote down, “comfort,” “acceptance,” “warmth,” “affection,” and “love”—qualities that pointed to God’s constant, completely good and true record. After a short while, I had remembered every bit of the relationship I could. And moment by moment, I had reversed the material record, replacing it with the spiritual reality. All the negative emotions had been replaced with peace and gratitude for all the good I had experienced. It was like a giant weight had been lifted! Whereas an hour earlier I would think of certain times and feel yuck, just that short while later, when I thought of the same events, the only direction I could turn my thought was toward the warmth and peace that remained. After years, the angst about this relationship was absolutely gone, and I had a lovely list of all the good being expressed during that period in my life. The peace persists still, and I haven’t even needed to look back at the list of qualities I made. sentinel.christianscience/shared/view/1we80oq1s9m?s=e
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:44:16 +0000
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