Making Miracles

For the last two weeks I have been teaching a class inspired by Melody Beattie's book Make Miracles in Forty Days. One of the exercises I had the class do last week was to make a list of all the people they resent or are unable to forgive, including themselves. Writing a resentment list is one of the things that Melody suggests you do in her book. Melody states: "having a heart blocked with resentments is the number one barrier, according to many experts, to achieving what we want in life, to manifesting our goals, and to experiencing joy; plus there's a universal law that says if we want to be forgiven, we need to forgive." As the class began writing, I thought to myself: "I guess I should write a list also, although I do not have any resentments. I will play along and jot a few things down."

So I began my list with a few resentments I had towards my husband that I had previously written about and let go of. A few more things came onto my list, resentments from my childhood that I had worked through. Surprise, surprise! That evening when I came home from class I was angry. I sat with my journal and wrote page after page of hurts, anger pouring onto the page, with many expletives filling the lines. Where was this all coming from? So much rage! It did not matter. The next morning when I woke I felt a heavy weight had lifted from my shoulders. The resentments that I thought I had released had still been lingering. I learned a lesson. From time to time I need to check in with my feelings and pay attention to any hurts or anger that may be below the surface. The reason being that these are the things that stop us from experiencing miracles, or blessings in our lives.