Do you find that when a major turning point in your life happens, that you can sometimes remember the exact place you were and what you were doing? It is only in retrospect that I appreciate how profound a catalyst Radical Forgiveness was to become in my life.
Well, that is how I remember my first encounter with Radical Forgiveness in September 2013.
I had downloaded an audiobook of Colin Tipping reading from his book and was listening to it on the way to meeting a friend for coffee.
It had been a difficult summer, a difficult year really. I was in the throes of what felt like a very deep dark night of the soul.
Somewhere within I had a faint yet persistent knowing that this trying time had its purpose but finding that purpose was proving very elusive and painful!
In retrospect, I see that time as a major turning point in my life, and this encounter with Radical Forgiveness was a major catalyst and one of the greatest gifts I had ever received.
Difficulties Happen for Us, not to Us
Anyway, here I was driving along Foster’s Avenue in Dublin on an autumn day, listening to Colin. He was saying that the harsh, cruel, challenging things that seem to happen to us in life are, in reality, happening for us. That idea, per se, wasn’t new to me, but I liked the way he put it.
But where he really got my attention was when he talked about tools that could act as a bridge between the human part of me that was confused and hurt and my spiritual intelligence which perfectly understood the big picture. Then he talked me through one of those tools, the 13 Steps to Radical Forgiveness, and I could feel a shift immediately: peace, calm, acceptance and a much kindlier attitude towards those whom I had resented for wronging me.
Within a week, I had enrolled in Radical Forgiveness coach training, as I knew that this was part of my life’s work. I have seen people I’ve worked with make profound changes while coming to a much deeper understanding of themselves and their soul’s purpose.