Forgive For Good... another Academy book

 

Forgive For Good by Dr. Fred Luskin is the third of four Academy books I have read.  I thought this one might be a little easier to read since forgiveness is an area I'm fairly decent in and I've been working on throughout the years.  However, I found myself becoming frustrated and even perturbed while reading the book as I recognized that I still struggle with forgiveness in situations--forgiveness of and for myself as well as for others.  I am thankful for this intrusive book as I have been able to reflect back on situations to see the ones in which I have truly forgiven and to see areas in which I still need growth.

I debated whether or not I would write about this one.  After all, I've written about the topic of forgiveness before.  Why write about a book that bothered me?!  Well, even though it bothered me, it did cause me to think and reflect and it challenged me.  It also gave me some additional tools for forgiveness.  I decided that since I've already written about the first two books I've read for the Academy, I might as well continue this journey. ☺

Layout of the book:

Introduction

Part One: Creating a Grievance
1. Renting Too Much Space to Disappointment
2. Taking Things Too Personally
3. The Blame Game
4. The Grievance Story
5. Rules, Rules, Rules

Part Two: Forgiveness
6. To Forgive of Not to Forgive: That is the Question
7. The Science of Forgiveness
8. Northern Ireland: The Ultimate Test

Part Three: Forgive for Good
9. Forgiveness Techniques for Healing: Changing the Channel, Breath of Thanks, Heart Focus, and PERT
10. From Unenforceable Rules to Wishes and Hopes
11. Your Positive Intention
12. The HEAL Method
13. The HEAL Method Part II:  Soothing the Hurt
14. The Four Stages of Becoming a Forgiving Person
15. Forgive Yourself
16. Above and Beyond
Beginning in the Introduction, there is a list of "What is Forgiveness?" and "What Forgiveness is Not" (vii-viii).  This is an important checklist because too often we get it wrong.

The personal stories throughout the book help you to see grievance stories first hand and how different people have worked through their situations.  The scientific data is powerful too. 

The bottom line is that if one desires to forgive self and others, it is possible.  The success stories shared throughout the book will be seeds of hope for anyone doubting that they can be free of their burdens.

Forgiveness is a journey.  It's a journey to freedom.  As we learn to forgive ourselves and to forgive others, we walk the path with a lighter load that allows us to more freely love self and others.

For more information, you might want to check out Dr. Fred Luskin's website: "Learning to Forgive" which is dedicated to this concept of forgiveness and the healthiness of it.  Within this website are a multitude of resources, links, tools, etc.  Among them are the "9 Steps to Forgive for Good".

Blessings on your journey,

~Debra