It's Not Old Age That Ages You!

Another week has gone by... In 8 days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday! Isn't it wonderful that in this country, we have a national holiday designated to feeling grateful. What a fabulous tradition!

What better time to be talking about Gratitude - my favorite subject? Yet something else is coming through, and when it happens, I listen. So here it is. The holiday season is upon us, and with it - for many - the dreaded "obligation" of having to be around someone you've been successfully avoiding all year. In other words - having to see people with whom you still have "unfinished business." Unfinished emotionally. You are still hurt or angry or resentful about what happened between you in the past and this past is still very much alive in you. You have not let it go. This unfinished business is not something benign. And therefore not something you can continue to ignore. Because it is draining your energy. Here is how it works. As long as you have strong feelings about a person: feel they have hurt you, are angry at them or hate them, "can't stand them", etc. etc. you remain energetically connected to them. There are invisible cords that are holding the two of you together, the cords that stretch indefinitely, because when it comes to energy, distance and time lose their meaning. As long as you keep these feelings alive, the cords between you are alive a well. Why should you worry about the stupid cords that you can't even see? For starters, because they cause you to lose your energy. Thank God you have been born with a lot of it, otherwise you would have been depleted long ago. But you are leaking it, energy that is, your life force. The force with which you build your life, create your dreams, make things happen. Why do you think kids have so much energy? Adolescents as well? They haven't yet leaked enough of it out. It is a myth that we have less energy because of age. We have less energy because of age-old resentments. Haven't you seen some amazingly beautiful, radiant older people, who are simply bursting with life? They seem so free, and so wise. And in their wisdom - so innocent. How did they get there? What's their secret? They have let go of their painful past. In one lump sum, or piece by piece. One way or another, through innate wisdom or inner work - they have been able to let the past be the past. They have set it down by the side of the road and - walked away. They stopped carrying it on their backs. That's why they are not bent like so many other people their age. They have amazing posture, and - they laugh a lot. So old and yet, having so much fun? How totally against everything we have been taught to believe... Because it is not old age that break's our backs. It is age-old resentments that do it. And our resistance to letting them go. I know you've heard all this before. Too many times. So many, that you have stopped hearing the truth behind these words. The truth is: You are the one with the key to your prison. Not the person who hurt you. But - you. Is it worth it to lose your life to whatever happened a long time ago? Is it worth it to keep leaking and leaking your energy? Until you've lost so much of it, it's past the point of no return? Of course not. Listen. There is so much wonder that lies ahead! So many new possibilities! Let these holidays be the time you start fresh. Release all the people that caused you pain, whether they are alive or dead. And release yourself from the pain of what you've deemed "unforgivable" in you. Say: Enough. Make that choice. Like one incredible woman who had survived Auschwitz said: "Hitler got 4 years of my life. I am not giving him one more day!" If she could do it, so can anyone. Including you! "But Auriela, you don't know what happened to me... besides I already tried to let go and it didn't work." Sorry, but I am not buying it. Are you? You might have tried, but you have never really made the choice to be done. Come on, it's just you and the computer page. No one is listening. Not even I, the one who wrote that page. Right here, right now - tell yourself the truth. And then - forgive yourself for keeping yourself prisoner to that past. Forgive yourself for wanting vindication, or apology or whatever else it would be really nice to get... You don't need it. Not really. Your ego does, but not you. What you need is your freedom. So give it to yourself - and be surprised: It is not just possible to let go and move on, it may turn out to be easier than you can imagine. If you read The Power of the Possible, remember the Chapter: The Son Who Forgave His Father? Or the Chapter: The Wife of an Alcoholic? These are true stories, of people like you and me. Let their lives be your inspiration. Read these Chapters again, even if you have read them already. Read them with new eyes. They may change your life. Watch my video on forgiveness on YouTube, ( the link is on my website, on Video page. Download the 2 forgiveness meditations from the Home page of my website - and do them. They work!

I have endless testimonials from people whose lives were changed by them. It is a choice: To hold on to the past or - to drop it. Holding on comes with a lot of juicy stuff: you can keep blaming, you can keep "being right" you can keep explaining away your unhappiness. The juicy stuff is poison. Throw it out. Don't wait for the New Year and another set of New Year's Resolutions. Right here, right now - let this Thanksgiving be your New Beginning. Celebrate yourself and your Power to Choose! You were born with it, even if you didn't always know it. You do now. Contemplate this miracle. Let it fill you with Wonder!