“Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think that you’ve lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time.” ~Asha Tyson
Thank you for indulging with me as I remember and celebrate the publishing of my book, Responsibility.
From Chapter 5, “Open and Heal Your Heart”
If you are to truly break the victim chain you must, and I repeat must, take this essential to heart. Without it, all else will be in vain. As much as realizing that it is your responsibility is the first essential key, opening and healing your heart is imperative. As long as you have unhealed wounds, resentments, or anger you will have chains.
There is not one person among us who has not suffered a loss, hurt, betrayal, or trauma of some sort in their lifetime. Some people have suffered more than others, and you do not have to look far to find the many forms of suffering that we as a human race endure every day.
In essence you can quite easily say that we are all victims of human suffering. I, however, would like to think of life as a series of lessons, with some of these lessons being extremely tough to endure. You may disagree with me, and that is okay. But don’t let that stop you from doing the work you need to do to heal and break the chains that hold you back from living a life of freedom.
It is easy to close our hearts to others and the joys of life when life has been hard and our wounds are deep. If we are to continue living and ultimately find health and happiness, we must open our hearts; otherwise, we remain victims and live behind cloaks of sorrow, merely existing.
Healing our hearts is essential, not just for our own sake but for the sake of our children, our families, and humankind as a whole. A healed heart is a gift we can bring to ourselves and those close to us. A healed heart is loving, creative, generous, productive, abundant, and joyful; a wounded heart is more likely to perpetuate the victim chain and add to the pain of the world. Joy is our birthright. Regardless of what has happened to us, it is our responsibility to heal.
Life truly begins when you heal your hearts; I know it did for me. My wounds started very young with verbal and physical sexual abuse, alcoholism, lack of love and emotional support, domestic conflict, and fighting. It continued in adulthood as betrayal and infidelity. When I realized that it was my responsibility to have a happy and joyful life, I also realized that I had work to do in the area of forgiveness of myself and others. I had to open and heal my heart by forgiving those who perpetuated the victim chain as well as myself for doing the same.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
—Mahatma Gandhi
There is so much confusion out there about what it really means to forgive. Many people feel that if they forgive someone for a hurt or injustice then what that person did or said was okay and you are letting them off the hook, so to speak. This could not be further from the truth.
When you choose not to forgive, the person you are holding hostage is yourself. All of that anger and resentment only hurts you and creates tension in your body. It is hanging onto the hurt and allowing it to affect you that keeps you from finding the true power of forgiveness, causing you to remain a part of the victim chain.
People may feel that by not forgiving they are inflicting a form of punishment and guilt that gives them power. Again, that is not true. The only person they are punishing is themselves, and they are, in fact, giving their power away. Heal your heart through forgiveness, it is another key essential to breaking the victim chain.
Have a wonderful week.
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