I was deeply moved by the story and inspired by Wayne’s ability to be grateful to a man that had seemingly brought nothing but pain and grief into his life. It was a tale that stuck with me, but I was not at a place in my life to see the personal lesson, much less act upon it.
Fast-forward a number of years…
I had been doing a great deal of work on my personal relationships with the law of attraction, both current and those in the past.
Knowing how important it was to not only find forgiveness for those that have “harmed” us, but to also take the next step in finding gratitude and appreciation for what they brought to our lives, took me on a complex emotional journey.
I was determined to clean up any past negative energy from old, hurtful relationships because I intended for all areas of my life to be completely aligned with what I want, which is harmony, peace, and joyful abundance!
I know it’s impossible to achieve that kind of alignment if you’re still hanging on to any old resentments, or negative feelings towards someone or something from the past.
So onward I pushed… to the one person and relationship I had struggled with for the past 32 years… the man my mother was married to for almost 30 years, my former stepfather.
When he and my mother first got together when I was 16, he immediately began making sly, sexual advances towards me. At the time, I didn’t know how to deal with this man’s conduct. I did not want to ‘hurt’ my mother, and there were times when I wondered what I had done to deserve this. I did my best to avoid him, but with only minimal success – it was such a difficult situation for me. I tolerated this behavior for the entire 30 years he and my mother were together.
Until he did the same thing to my then 9 year old daughter, and when she finally told me about what he’d been doing, I gave my mother a choice… she could continuing to see her only grandchild, or her husband. She got divorced.
Now I had done a LOT of forgiveness work around my stepfather and had for years, and I had really come to a place of peace and understanding about his behavior and his actions, both towards my daughter and me. Of course, it helped that my daughter is doing just fine after a year or so of therapy, and is a happy, well-adjusted, and thriving young girl.
However, I had never actually moved into a place of being able to find appreciation and gratitude for my stepfather until recently when I focused on applying the law of attraction to that part of my life.
After weeks of journaling and meditation, I finally came to that space of realizing that I would not be on the path I am on today, nor would I be the person I am today, without that experience with my stepfather.
I found a place of gratitude and appreciation for ALL of what he had brought to my life.
A few weeks later, my mother told me she was expecting my stepfather to come through town (they still had occasional contact) and that he was going to stop by her house for a short visit. I told her my daughter and I would make ourselves scarce that day to make sure we didn’t run into him.
For whatever reason, he never showed up at my mom’s house on the day he was supposed to so my mom figured either he chose not to stop or something else came up.
Two days later, I stopped at my mom’s house to drop off my dog before I went to an appointment. I knew my mom was volunteering at the hospital, but her dog and my dog like to keep each other company when we’re both away from home.
I drove up to her house and I saw a strange car parked in her driveway and someone standing in her garage. As I parked and got out of the car, I realized it was my stepfather.
After my initial “Oh my God” moment of seeing him for the first time since I found out about what he’d done to my daughter over 3 years ago, I realized I had nothing to be afraid of anymore. I walked up to him, said hello, and gave him a hug as if he’d never done anything wrong.
It was over. In that moment, I let go of 32 years of fear that I’d had towards this man. The law of attraction brought us together knowing how much more powerful this act of forgiveness would be for me to do in person.
In that moment, I realized he had come into my life to bring me to where I am today, and the same for my daughter, who is now beautiful, strong, and knows how to speak her mind… thank heavens!
I felt only gratitude… and love.
And life changed forever because the past was now over… completely over.
Is there a part of your past that’s waiting to be healed? Do what you need to do to heal your relationships from the past so you can move on and start creating the love you desire.
“There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not open, no gulf that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down, no sin that enough love will not redeem.
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how great the mistake, sufficient realization of love will resolve it all. If you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.”
~ His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi