Question:
In my life knowingly & unknowingly I have committed many sins, mistakes & crimes. But now I become very sad when I think about it. The past memories keep coming to my mind again & again so intensely that I feel like committing suicide. I can’t concentrate on anything else. Again & again I think about suicide as my past keep pursuing me continuously.
Do I have right to live more with happiness? Can my bad past be forgotten? Will god forgive me for all my sins & let me live my remaining life? Please help me. I am eagerly waiting for your reply.
Answer:
Yes, you can most definitely overcome the mistakes of your past. The most important part of that will come through you learning to forgive yourself. Something that can be instrumental in helping you come to terms with the actions of your past is to meet with the people you have hurt and offer your personal apology and offer to make amends in whatever way you can. These steps along with your resolve to make better decisions in the future will be the beginning of you feeling better about yourself. That can lead to greater self-regard and from there you can learn self-forgiveness.
Love,
Deepak
About Deepak Chopra
Time Magazine heralded Deepak Chopra as one of the 100 heroes and icons of the century, and credited him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine." Entertainment Weekly described Deepak Chopra as "Hollywood's man of the moment, one of publishing's best-selling and most prolific self-help authors." He is the author of more than 50 books and more than 100 audio, video and CD-Rom titles. He has been published on every continent and in dozens of languages. Fifteen of his books have landed on the New York Times Best-seller list. Toastmaster International recognized him as one of the top five outstanding speakers in the world. Through his over two decades of work since leaving his medical practice, Deepak continues to revolutionize common wisdom about the crucial connection between body, mind, spirit, and healing. His mission of "bridging the technological miracles of the west with the wisdom of the east" remains his thrust and provides the basis for his recognition as one of India's historically greatest ambassadors to the west. Chopra has been a keynote speaker at several academic institutions including Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Divinity School, Kellogg School of Management, Stanford Business School and Wharton.His latest book is
"Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul."
Dear Deepak,
I love these Q & A's…
This one especially brings to light my own past misdeeds.
I've once actually followed through with an attempt of
suicide. At the time I blamed it on the alcohol. I remember
well that evening. I just felt like there wasn't any other way
out. Boy was I ever wrong. That happened in 1985, and I'm
still here with a wonderful family.
I everyday Thank God allowing me to survive that horrible
night in which I hit head on a Utility pole on a wintery road
out in the Country with no one to come to my aid. I still
think back on that night alot, and I'm amazed that I'm still
here to be apart of this wonderful world we live in. I'm
Grateful to be Alive…
I slammed into that pole, and my van was severely damaged,
and my nose severed "split right down the middle".
With the hand of God on me I put in reverse that
Vehicle, and drove into town. I walked into my mom's
house on my own, and looked into the mirror.
I was overcomed with shock what I seen.I fell to
the ground, and was rushed to the local Emergency
Room where my nose was stitched back together.
I can tell you first hand the past will always be with
you it's just how you deal with the demons. You can't
even tell where the scar is on my nose you really must
look up close to see it.
I'm now 49, an I'm a recoverying Alcoholic. As I go
through my days I really appreciate what I do have.
Yes feeling better about myself is still a challenge.
Thank you for raising these important issues of our
day here on intent. My grandson now 2 would of never
been here neither would my daughter who's now 19.
So in ones life everything happens for a reason.
A friend,
Kevin K.
Thank you,
Kevin Keath
wow… kevin
what a beautiful story in so many ways… thank you for sharing that and the lesson. I believe we can also make amends on a certain level by what we do with today..
love and light
namaste
tiffany
"everything happens for a reason."
Kevin, right on…..in the grand order of Life, over and beyond this theatre. there is nothing to forgive.
Regards,
ed
hi all!
happiness is still deep within us all-
and as usual deepak is skimming around on the superficial thinking part of our lives-
there is no way to learn to forgive ones self- it is impossible-
forgiveness does not come from learning or actions or will or intent-
and nothing your conscious thinking acting self will ever do will forgive anything-
although you may trick yourself mentally into thinking that you have-
but it is not the same thing-
forgiveness comes from a self and an experience and a brain center which preceeds thought and will and action and ideas and intent-
forgiveness is a result of feeling and experiencing and integrating the pain which is causing us to feel bad and need to forgive-
when a person dies we die with them- and the human grieving process if effected fully and completely frees us from the pain of the death- and leaves us with sweetness of memory-
grieving our mistakes and victimizations and transgressions on others is the same- if effected properly and completely we feel the sweetness of self and memory regarding any event-
and only this sweetness coming from within as a result of grieving and catharsis is true forgiveness- the rest is a mental coated bypass- and artificial-
this is not to say that deepaks methods of assuaging blame and guilt are not helpful- but the tiny icecap of your thinking doing self above the surface has little effect on the pain of the enormous iceberg of pain below the surface-
and suicide comes from below- so careful with only thoughts and actions as they are misleading and incabable of real healing and ultimate forgiveness of self- and then others- in that order-
best of wishes to all
love roe
http://www.dear-roe-the-muse.com
Seek help from professionals, or at least pastor, close friend, to be pointed towards healing ways.
I know that inner pain can be huge, seem insurmountable, but feel always that there is always reason to live, many.
I have had to deal with up and down depression, and feel that often these problems have physical basis.
I am encouraging you to seek help, and yes, FORGIVENESS OF SELF IS POSSIBLE.
The first thing to realize: If you could’ve done better , you would have. You can’t change past, but you can change how you approach life now.
Write a letter( not to send, to shred after..)to the persons you feel you have harmed, in detail, along with the apology. This gets the thoughts out of your head.
If you can apologize in person, do, but then if it is really bad, they may not forgive, but at least you gave them the chance.
Light is stronger than dark, but if more than you can handle, please seek help.
Creator forgives us, just put your feet on proper path.
All the best, let us know what you come up with/how you are doing, blessings, Jas