Forgiveness Prayer
If I have harmed anyone in any way either knowingly or unknowingly through my own confusions,
I ask their forgiveness
If anyone has harmed me in any way either knowingly or unknowingly through their own confusions,
I forgive them
And if there is a situation I am not yet ready to forgive,
I forgive myself for that
For all the ways that I harm myself, negate, doubt, belittle myself, judge or be unkind to myself through my own confusions,
I forgive myself
I don’t know about you, but when I first arrived in recovery and was told that I could forgive myself, I scoffed at the notion. The idea that I could forgive me was as alien as the idea that I could not drink/drug one day at a time. You said that God had forgiven me and I sneered that there was a God. You said that you had forgiven me and I diminished your value to be meaningless.
My self loathing was so great that I walked around with my head hanging and when you spoke to me I looked into your chest, over your shoulders or atop your head, but never into your eyes. The only thing I could hear was to keep coming back and I did.
Little by slowly I began to hear, feel and experience a new way of listening, seeing, feeling and experiencing; different than anything I had ever known. Inch by inch I began to feel some balance between my hatred for myself and what I believed I had done and your telling me that I was a good person. I learned that I was a sick person getting well, not a bad person getting good. I scoffed at the semantics at first, but truly came to believe in the significant difference between them.
As I found a Higher Power and God of my understanding (whatever that means), I found the ability to begin my journey to forgiveness. I forgave others first as I felt you were owed that from me and then allowed my self a sliver of belief that God had already had forgiven me and that I could now accept God’s love and hope for today.
I looked at the fact that I had not used one day at a time for a while and that I would not have been blessed with the obsession being lifted had I not been forgiven. I clawed my way into forgiveness, but with your help and God’s grace, one day at a time, one minute at a time, I found the faith to believe that I could clean the slate and start a new way of life filled with love instead of hatred.
Today I know how much I am loved, how much I love me and how much love I have to share because I have forgiven me. Today I carry the message to others as it was freely carried to me and am grateful to you for showing me the way.
I invite you to join me in the act of forgiving today and begin to feel the joy of knowing just how valuable you are to you, me and others.
Put ♥ this ♥ on ♥ anyone’s ♥ page ♥ who ♥ made ♥ you ♥ smile ♥ somewhere ♥ sometime ♥in ♥ your ♥ life. ♥ It ♥ may ♥ surprise ♥ you, ♥ but ♥ check ♥out ♥ how ♥ many ♥ come ♥ back. ♥ Thanks ♥ a ♥ lot ♥ for ♥ making ♥ me ♥ smile!!!! Pass it on and change the world one smile at a time
Modern and independent Rabbi with an MSW Degree and 23 years of sobriety providing addiction counseling focusing on healing, spiritual guidance and personalized life cycle events.
If you, a family member or friend are suffering, call me at 954-755-3764 to get the help you deserve.
Hugs and blessings for a joyous day!