Heal Pain by Saying "I AM Sorry"

When I woke up yesterday morning my daughter had green gunk coming out of her nose and my first thought was "How can she be sick again?". She had just gotten over 1 1/2 weeks home from school with bronchitis and had only been at school for 4 days. My second thought was, "Oh no, I am SO behind on my blog, projects I am working on, the house, groceries, etc. ALREADY -- how am I going to face this?"

I felt sorry for my daughter, sorry for myself and I did even call my husband (who was on his way to work) to rant, rave, complain and even get a bit teary. But luckily since discovering The Law of Attraction and becoming more aware -- after about a half hour of this I had had enough. I was able to stop myself and say "Ok, Jen you are upset -- but what can you DO about the situation?"

I have been reading up on Ho'oponopono lately. Aaron Potts of Today is the Day has an excellent post on it. I have put it into practice for the last 2 weeks and will share my results soon. But a key point to it is saying you are sorry. Saying the words "I am sorry" can heal you and heal whoever you say you are sorry to. Because I have been practicing this apologizing was the first thing that came to mind.

I knew saying "I am sorry" would heal me and the others I had affected. Sorry to my daughter -- that I was caught up in what her sickness meant for me and not first and foremost concentrating on how to get her better for good this time (well I'd settle for a month) ; ). I wrote my husband an email to say "sorry for unloading so early in the morning -- I know you have enough on your mind -- I will do my best". And then I wrote emails to the people I was supposed to have done work for and said "I am sorry -- I do not have the time to complete these and I will do my best to have them to you when I can". I then said sorry to myself for being so caught up in what I wanted to accomplish that I pushed all else aside, for setting hard to reach time-lines and for getting so upset to begin with. If you haven't apologized to yourself I HIGHLY recommend it. It is liberating and is much better than the "beating myself up about something" that I used to .

By the end of those apologies I felt so much better and healed of my anguish. "I am sorry" are powerful words. My friend Neil Sattin has an excellent post on "How to Apologize effectively".
By apologizing, you are admitting to yourself WHAT you are sorry about and you are taking responsibility for it. By doing that it allows you to move forward. If I had not apologized I would have felt down on myself and disappointed by what was not going to get done. A year ago (before studying the Law of Attraction) it would have wound up as some sort of physical manifestation as well such as a head or body ache.

There are people that have a very hard time saying "I am sorry". Some think it is a character flaw of some kind to admit they were wrong. I believe it takes strength and awareness to stop, notice your behavior and how it effects others and own up to it. If I snap at one of my kids when I am tired or preoccupied I will say I am sorry. How else will they learn to apologize when they have done something wrong? When you say you are sorry you are letting go of any feelings you may have of disappointment, hurt and pain. When you say "I am sorry" to yourself you can truly move on and get over what has been stewing and exaggerating in your brain.

Look at it from the other side and think of how you feel when you get an apology. Doesn't it feel so good to have someone apologize to you and to admit what they are sorry for? I know when I say "I am sorry" to my kids their eyes light up with joy. If I did not send messages out apologizing for being late with work -- the people I am doing work for might have thought I forgot, was lazy or just didn't care. Instead I got understanding messages back thanking me and telling me it was okay -- to take my time.

The next time you are upset with yourself for something you did or didn't do or say why not stop and take a minute. Think about what you are sorry for and say "I am sorry" to the person it affected as well as yourself and see how that makes you feel instead.

"Heal Pain with Self-Forgiveness" by Jennifer Mannion


Self-Forgiveness was an integral part of my techniques to heal pain. When I started reading the Law of Attraction materials it was overwhelming to think that I had in any way contributed to my illnesses in the last 6 years. I could have lingered in anger, resentment, bitterness at time lost or frustration. I decided I would need to forgive myself in order to begin to heal.

I did not intentionally make myself sick. I did not consciously choose to be in chronic pain for 6 years. I was doing the best I knew how in coping with all my illnesses. It was my subconscious that was taking the things I was not dealing with properly; stress, anger, exhaustion and contributing to my illnesses. Once I said to myself, "It's OK Jen, you did not choose these things -- what's important is what you do NOW", I started to heal. You need to forgive yourself. It does no good to replay in your mind what you could have done or said -- what matters is how you live your life from here on out.

One of my favorite inspirational speakers, James Ray, says "Isn't NOW a good time to start....." Yes, Mr. Ray it sure is! For more on James Ray please visit his site at: http://www.jamesray.com Mr. Thom Rutledge wrote a book on self-forgiveness the following is a review for it: " Thom Rutledge is onto something. Writing in the awareness that the line between spirituality and psychology has blurred, his third self-help book concentrates on kindness. That is, be kind first to yourself and your kindness will flow to others. All psychological healing comes from the ability to forgive oneself." To physically heal you have to psychologically heal as well....

So -- whats' next? I am sure you have forgiven other people for doing things you thought they did or said intentionally. Can you find it in your heart to forgive yourself for things you did unintentionally?

For more of the techniques I used to heal myself of chronic pain and illness or to find out more about me, you can read about my ebook or visit my site: http://www.thankfulformyhealing.com