Your ability to forgive those who have hurt you in the past is a crucial stepping stone to your spiritual and emotional growth. Throughout the course of our lives, we collect emotional baggage. This is unavoidable, and even though it can cause us a great deal of pain, it helps us to define who we are as people; the result is, we grow even more and learn valuable lessons along the way about ourselves and others.

So there you have it - emotional baggage is an unavoidable part of all of our lives ? but it's not actually this that is the real cause of unhappiness in your life. What's really important is how you choose to deal with that baggage, because what you do here will determine the success or failure of your future relationships.. Now, there is another very important point I want to make:

People come into our lives to teach us lessons

It's what you do with these lessons that determines how your future will be. Think of all the people you have encountered in your life. Isn't it funny to look back and think about the last time you saw a particular person; it may have been several years ago, and it's quite possible that you will never again see him/her in this lifetime!The reason? Because this person has served their purpose in your life. So now that you know this, think about this; what did this person teach you? Some relationships or encounters that we have with other people last only a few days, and some last a lifetime. But either way, each experience serves a specific purpose and is extremely relevant to your life!.

Now, given that every experience we have is a lesson for us, think about the people who have hurt you in the past. Have you allowed yourself to forgive them? Or are you still holding into the emotional pain? Do you find yourself conjuring up scenes of "sweet revenge" in your mind, or worse still, acting out those scenes? Are you able to forgive and let go? If you are not, then who holds the power ? you or them?

Don't let people who have hurt you in the past have any control over your future!

When you make a choice to forgive others, you are NOT lying down and becoming a doormat, nor are you admitting that person who hurt you is in the right. Forgiveness is about taking back control of your life and not allowing your negative emotions to rule you. And forgiveness is also about letting go of all those debilitating emotions that could be responsible for sabotaging your current relationships! So ask yourself this question: Do you want to feel good? If you are still carrying feelings of resentment and anger towards someone who hurt you, then what are you getting out of it?

Hanging on to feelings of resentment, hatred or anger, will ensure that these destructive feelings WILL spill over into your current life and stop you from enjoying positive, successful relationships with other people.

The fact is, your subconscious mind never ignores negative energy and emotions. It will remind you every day that you need to deal with them, and until you do, it will manifest your unresolved emotional pain through insomnia, chronic physical pain and in extreme cases, through life threatening illness. So there it is; make a decision today to take back your life by practising forgiveness. Your energy is extremely precious so don't allow yourself to give it away to those who don't deserve to have it it! Move on with your life today, and you will experience miracles.

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Sonia Devine is a qualified professional hypnotherapist and success coach with a caring and committed approach to healing, who lives in Melbourne, Australia. You can find more of her information on forgiveness, self image, emotional love, relationships, phobias and much more on her website Manifest Your Success