Letters To Self

Anyone who has read A Course in Miracles, The Secret, The Bible, or any of the numerous self-help books that are out there should be aware that Forgiveness is not only the key to personal happiness but the key to awakening as well.

Forgiveness may be the single most important yet ultimately the hardest thing that we ever need to do. Fortunately, there are tools at our disposal that help us through the process, the simplest may be writing letters of forgiveness. These are letters that you write to everyone you hold a grudge against or feel has harmed you in some way. The idea is to get everything that bothers you about them off your chest and then you are able to forgive and let it all go. The letters are never sent, instead they are burned and the attachment to the grievance goes up in smoke along with the letter.

There is one step however that should be done first. Before you can truly forgive others you must forgive yourself, YOU are the most important person that you need to forgive! In this lens I share the guidance I received about writing letters to self.

Not long ago I was guided to write a letter of forgiveness to myself, AND I was told to encourage others to do the same. According to the instructions given to me by my inner guidance there should be "no holds barred" in this letter. You should yell and shout at yourself for every action you have ever taken (or failed to take) that left you feeling ashamed, or guilty...shame and guilt are the lowest vibration of any human emotion. Really dig deep and bring up anything and everything you have been hiding from or just not wanting to look at closely, those things you don't like about yourself that cause you to feel bad about yourself...you might be surprised how many of these emotions will also be at the core of your physical diseases, pain, and anxieties.

Now once you have gotten it all out you forgive yourself in writing. Forgive yourself for every thing for which you condemned yourself. Remember that forgiveness doesn't mean that you are condoning offensive behavior, it simply means that you are no longer tied to it, that you are no longer allowing yourself to be stuck in the past reliving those past events over and over.

Once you have finished your letter take it outside and burn it in a fireproof container, make sure that it burns completely. You may find that you need to re-light it several times to get it to burn depending on how hard it is to let go of your "stuff", but once it does you will be free! Just think how wonderful it will be to be rid of all the old "stuff" that has been pulling you down, how wonderful it will be to finally let yourself off the hook for these supposed wrongs!

The letter that I wrote to myself ended up being five typed pages...about half telling me off, and the other half forgiving myself. I typed for three and a half hours until I felt like I had gotten it all out and my hands felt like they were going to fall off! When I first read through the letter it all sounded so awful, but then I read it again and it didn't sound so bad and on the third reading I had no emotional charge over it at all and I felt wonderfully light and free!

Up to this point we have gotten out all of our negative feelings about our self and forgiven our self for having them in the first place. Now it is time to shift gears and shift perspective and really feel love for our self.

It is said that you can never truly love another until you learn to love yourself and I believe that is true. To me, writing a love letter to your self holds a lot more power than just stating affirmations. It may feel really awkward at first since most of us are more used to running our self down than we are complimenting our self.

You might start by reminding yourself that you are a child of God and are perfect in every way and then list all the things you really like, admire, value, and love about yourself. Write with all the compassion and honesty you would use with a dear friend. If you believe that you are kind, compassionate, thoughtful or generous then love yourself for these traits. Maybe you are talented, creative and artistic, then love that about your self. Express love for your intelligence your intuitiveness and your honesty. Love yourself for the way you love and take care of others. Are you a fiery, passionate, take charge sort of person, then honor and respect that about yourself.

No quality is too small or unimportant to acknowledge and love. This letter is all about letting yourself know without a doubt that you accept, love, and cherish yourself because you can't expect anyone else to feel feelings for you that you can't feel for yourself. So sit down and start writing now!