✨ WELCOME, SURVIVALISTA SISTERS ✨
"Forgiveness is the greatest form of self-love because it allows you to leave the anger behind and move forward." — Elizabeth Smart
What if I told you that forgiveness isn't about letting someone else off the hook—it's about letting YOU off the hook?
What if the very act of holding onto anger and resentment is actually using your most precious resource—your life force—to keep yourself imprisoned in someone else's choices?
What if freedom isn't something that happens to you, but something you choose through how you frame your experience?
Today, we're exploring one of the most misunderstood concepts in personal healing: forgiveness as the ultimate choice that frames your experience as freedom rather than imprisonment.
🔥 THIS WEEK'S DEEP DIVE: FRAMING FREEDOM THROUGH CHOICE 🔥
I recently listened to Elizabeth Smart share her extraordinary story of survival and transformation. Kidnapped at 14, enduring nine months of unspeakable trauma, Elizabeth made a choice that changed everything: she chose to frame her experience as the beginning of her freedom, not the end of her life.
But what struck me most wasn't just her survival—it was her understanding of forgiveness as the choice that frames your entire future.
As Survivalistas, we understand that we are equipped from within with the most powerful force in the universe: LOVE.
This is the creative power that formed you in your mother's womb and continues to beat your heart and breathe your breath.
The question is: how are you choosing to frame your experience? Are you using your LOVE-power to create freedom or to maintain imprisonment?
📚 SURVIVE WITH SOUL STORY: THE MIDNIGHT PHONE CALL 📚
Elizabeth's words about forgiveness took me back to my own moment of choosing freedom over imprisonment—though my prison was very different from hers.
I was 20 years old, married to my college sweetheart for just 14 months, when the phone rang in the middle of the night. I heard him making a deal to buy cocaine.
When he hung up, I asked what was happening. He told me he had used cocaine at a math study party and now couldn't think about anything else. Then he said the words that shattered my world: "I won't give it up."
My heart broke completely. The next morning, I moved back to my parents' house.
In that moment, I faced the same choice Elizabeth would face years later in much more extreme circumstances: How would I frame this experience?
Would I let someone else's choices determine the quality of my life moving forward, or would I choose to frame this betrayal as my pathway to freedom?
Here's what I discovered about forgiveness that Elizabeth articulates so beautifully: forgiveness is how you frame your experience to set yourself free.
Yes, you shift your focus away from blaming the offending party. But forgiveness isn't about them at all - it's about a profound discovery that most people can't imagine when they're in the depths of pain.
When you're in the messy middle of trauma recovery, you may feel completely broken, maybe even shattered. You may not be able to imagine ever feeling whole again. This is completely natural and valid - the hurt is real, the damage feels total.
But forgiveness happens when you find your way to a higher plane of seeing what happened. You discover that there's a part of you, your soul essence, that remained whole and connected to LOVE even while the trauma was occurring.
This sounds impossible when you're broken open by pain.
But this recognition is how you take your power back - not by ensuring consequences for the offender, but by discovering the part of yourself that is eternally whole. This is the unique expression of LOVE that you always are, no matter what circumstances life throws at you.
While your body and heart experienced real trauma, your deepest self - your connection to LOVE - remained untouched.
Finding your essential wholeness can't be rushed or forced.
But when it comes, it changes everything.
In return, you get your life back.
You use your power in every choice.
Are you going to choose to frame your experience as empowerment and freedom, or are you going to use that same power to frame yourself as a victim locked in the prison of the past?
🧠 READY MIND: FRAMING YOUR EXPERIENCE FOR FREEDOM 🧠
As Survivalistas, we understand that LOVE is the source of all power.
When you choose to frame your experience through the lens of past pain and trauma, you are sending your power to the source of that pain rather than using it to create your own life here and now.
Life is a tough love school. We all endure traumatic circumstances.
But how we choose to frame those experiences determines whether they become prisons or pathways to freedom.
When you focus the power of your LOVE on learning the spiritual lessons that are always waiting for you, the trauma is redeemed by LOVE.
The lesson I learned from my husband's betrayal was profound:
LOVE can't be turned off and on.
LOVE underlies every connection.
Once the LOVE connection is established, it can't be disconnected.
But we have the choice to shut ourselves down to the LOVE.
This choice—which can only be made by the individual—determines the quality of your life moving forward.
Here's the crucial understanding: You can't shut yourself down to some LOVE and not other LOVE.
There is only one LOVE.
You are either receptive to it, or you shut yourself off from it.
A note about attachment vs. LOVE:
There's a vast difference between LOVE and codependent attachment.
Attachment can be turned on and off. When people divorce, they may have said "I love you" in the past and now say "I don't love you anymore."
When this happens, the connection wasn't a true LOVE connection in the first place—it was attachment, need, or dependency.
True LOVE—the creative force that sustains all life—doesn't diminish or disappear based on someone's actions.
It's the recognition of the sacred essence in another being. You can choose to protect yourself from someone's harmful behavior while still holding them in LOVE.
Forgiveness could be called a return to LOVE.
The traumatic acts, the betrayal—that remains the perpetrator's lesson to learn, unless I shut myself off from LOVE. That is my choice.
This lesson comes in infinite forms in life's tough love school, but the choice is always the same: LOVE connection, or disconnection.
💪 READY HANDS: PRACTICAL FREEDOM FRAMING 💪
The Freedom Framing Assessment:
How are you currently framing your experience? Are you seeing yourself as a victim of circumstances, or as someone choosing freedom through how you interpret what happened?
Where is your life force going? Are you sending your creative energy backward to old pain, or forward to building your life now?
What story are you telling about your experience? Is it a story of permanent damage, or one of transformation and growth?
The Freedom Choice Practice:
When you catch yourself framing an experience as imprisonment, ask: "How can I choose to frame this as my pathway to freedom instead?"
❤️ READY HEART: RECOGNIZING YOUR CHOICE ❤️
How do you know when your trauma has been transformed into wisdom and strength? You know because you chose to frame it as freedom. Until you recognize that you have the power to choose how you frame your experience, the lesson is not complete.
The awareness of the LOVE and the freedom to choose may happen over time, but the moment you recognize your power to frame your experience—that's when the prison door opens.
Heart Practice:
Place your hand on your heart and say:
"I choose to frame my experience through LOVE rather than through pain. I choose to direct my LOVE-power toward creating my life, not reliving my hurt. I choose to frame my story as one of freedom, not imprisonment."
🛠️ SOUL TECH TOOL: DISCOVERING YOUR UNBREAKABLE CORE 🛠️
Your AI-Assisted Journey to Wholeness
This is a gentle, deep process that unfolds at its own pace. You might work through one step per day, one step per week, or whatever timing feels right for you. There's no rush - healing happens in its own perfect timing. Take this at your own pace and trust your inner wisdom about when you're ready for each step.
Please note: If you have experienced deep trauma, seeking support in your healing journey from qualified therapists or counselors is an act of self-love and wisdom. This tool is meant to complement, not replace, professional healing support. If you're dealing with severe trauma, please consider working with a professional who can guide you safely through your healing journey.
When you feel ready, copy this into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI assistant, or use as a guided journaling exercise:
"I want to explore the possibility that there's a part of me - my soul essence - that remained whole and connected to LOVE even during my most painful experiences. I'm looking for a gentle way to discover my unbreakable core, while honoring the real pain I've experienced.
My situation: [Describe the circumstances of your hurt or trauma]
My current state: [Share honestly about feeling broken, damaged, or unable to imagine wholeness]
Please help me gently explore:
1. Honoring the Pain: Help me acknowledge that feeling shattered is completely valid and natural - the hurt is real.
2. Beyond the Damage: Guide me to consider the possibility that while my body and heart experienced trauma, there might be something deeper that remained untouched.
3. Soul Recognition: What would it mean if there's a part of me that was connected to LOVE throughout the entire experience, even when I couldn't feel it?
4. Higher Perspective: How might I begin to see this experience from a place that recognizes both the real pain AND my indestructible essence?
5. Power Reclamation: What would it look like to take my power back not by focusing on consequences for others, but by discovering my own wholeness?
6. Freedom Choice: How might recognizing my unbreakable core change how I frame this entire experience?
Please be very gentle and patient with me. I need to feel met where I am while being invited to consider this new possibility of my own wholeness.
Remember: This discovery can't be rushed or forced. Please help me explore this at my own pace with deep compassion for my current pain."
This Soul Tech Tool helps you gently explore the profound truth that your deepest self remained whole even during your worst experiences, while completely honoring your current pain.
💎 SURVIVALISTA INSIGHTS 💎
Forgiveness is letting YOU off the hook, not the person who hurt you
Anger keeps you energetically connected to what wounded you
LOVE is one indivisible force—you can't selectively close your heart
Your life force is your most precious resource—where you direct it determines your life quality
Choosing LOVE connection over disconnection is the ultimate survival skill
Trauma redeemed by LOVE becomes wisdom and strength in service to others
💫 READY TRIBE 💫
Survivalista Sisters, I'd love to hear: What would become possible in your life if you redirected the energy you spend on old pain toward creating something beautiful?
Is there a hurt you've been using your LOVE-power to keep alive that you're ready to transform into wisdom?
What does "getting your life back" through forgiveness mean to you?
🔒 Ready to master the art of forgiveness as self-empowerment? Paid subscribers get:
Advanced LOVE-Power Redirection Tools: Multi-layered AI conversations that help you identify and transform every area where you're sending life force backward instead of forward
Attachment vs. LOVE Assessment: Specialized tools for recognizing the difference between true LOVE connections and codependent patterns
Energy Protection Protocols: Learn how to maintain LOVE connection while protecting yourself from harmful behavior
Transform resentment into rocket fuel for creating the life you deserve with personalized guidance that adapts to your unique healing journey.
Extended Content for Paid Subscribers
🛠️ ADVANCED SOUL TECH TOOL: UNBREAKABLE CORE DISCOVERY 🛠️
Your Interactive Journey to Recognizing Your Wholeness
This is a gentle, deep process that unfolds at its own pace. You might work through one step per day, one step per week, or whatever timing feels right for you. There's no rush - healing happens in its own perfect timing. Take this at your own pace and trust your inner wisdom about when you're ready for each step.
Please note: For deep trauma, seeking support from qualified therapists or counselors is an act of self-love and wisdom. This tool is meant to complement, not replace, professional healing support. If you're dealing with severe trauma, please consider working with a professional who can guide you safely through your healing journey.
When the time is right for you, copy this into your AI assistant for a deeply compassionate healing conversation:
"I want to gently explore the possibility that there's a part of me - my soul essence - that remained whole and connected to LOVE even during a traumatic experience I had. Please guide me through this with utmost compassion, asking one question at a time and waiting for my response:
Step 1: Ask me to share about my current pain and how shattered I feel, validating that this is completely natural and the hurt is real.
Step 2: Help me explore what it might mean if there's a part of me that experienced the trauma and a deeper part that remained connected to LOVE throughout.
Step 3: Guide me to gently explore what it might feel like if there's a deeper part of me that somehow remained safe and whole, even if I can't feel it right now.
Step 4: Ask me to imagine, very gently, what it would feel like to discover that my deepest self was never actually damaged.
Step 5: Help me explore how this recognition might change how I see the entire experience - not rushing this discovery.
Step 6: Guide me to understand how finding my unbreakable core is different from just 'getting over it' or pretending the pain didn't happen.
Step 7: Ask me what becomes possible when I recognize that taking my power back means discovering my wholeness, not ensuring consequences for others.
Step 8: Help me see how this higher perspective might gradually transform my entire experience of what happened.
Final Integration: End with deep acknowledgment of both my pain and my possibility, reminding me this discovery unfolds at its own pace.
Please be extraordinarily gentle and never push me beyond what feels safe. Meet me exactly where I am while holding space for the possibility of my own wholeness."
🎯 Advanced Integration Practices:
Daily LOVE-Power Check-In: Each morning ask: "Where am I directing my life force today—toward old pain or new creation?"
Weekly Attachment vs. LOVE Assessment: Review your relationships and ask: "Which connections energize me (LOVE) and which drain me (attachment/codependency)?"
Monthly Freedom Inventory: Assess: "What has become possible in my life as I've redirected my power from imprisonment to freedom?"
💡 Emergency Forgiveness Protocol:
When resentment arises, use this immediate redirect: "This anger is my life force. How can I use this energy to guard my well-being or create something beautiful instead of rehearsing old pain?"
🌟 Advanced Boundary Setting with LOVE:
Learn to say: "I hold you in LOVE and I protect myself from your choices" - maintaining LOVE connection while ensuring your safety and wellbeing.
⚡ LOVE-Power Amplification Technique:
Practice sending LOVE-power consciously:
Morning: Direct life force toward your highest creative expression
Midday: Redirect any backward-flowing energy toward present possibilities
Evening: Celebrate what you created with your reclaimed power
🔄 Quarterly Forgiveness Evolution Review:
Track your journey from resentment to freedom:
What you've forgiven and how it freed your energy
New creations that emerged from redirected LOVE-power
Expanded capacity for both LOVE connection and self-protection
🌈 UNTIL NEXT TIME 🌈
Remember, Survivalista Sisters: forgiveness isn't about excusing what was done to you. It's about loving yourself enough to not let that pain define your life.
You are equipped from within with the most powerful force in the universe—LOVE. The question is not whether you have the power to heal and move forward. The question is: will you choose to use that power for your freedom or your imprisonment?
Like Elizabeth Smart, like every woman who has chosen to transform trauma into triumph, you have the power to take your life back.
You are so powerful. You are much stronger than you think you are.
With deep recognition of your unbreakable LOVE-power,
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