Unconditional Forgiveness: A Simple and Proven Method to Forgive Everyone and Everything

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Unconditional Forgiveness: A Simple and Proven Method to Forgive Everyone and Everything

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 7 ratings · 4 reviews

Includes a preview of The New Kitchen Mystic , the next book Mary Hayes Grieco.

Forgiveness is about more than just letting go. It’s about healing wounds and wiping away scars. It’s about feeling better—physically and emotionally. It’s about living your life with purpose and truly moving forward.

In Unconditional Forgiveness, Mary Hayes Grieco offers the Eight Steps to Freed...more

ebook, 240 pages

Published December 20th 2011 by Atria Books/Beyond Words

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Feb 14, 2012 Leonard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book a mixture of positive and negative information. There are some moving illustrations of people the author has worked with to help the process of forgiveness. On page 22 there is a great list of things that forgiveness is NOT. I liked the "Eight Steps to Freedom" on page 60 and much of the information in the following ten to fifteen pages. On the other hand I thought the author's statement that "the soul is energy" on page 29 is speculation or guessing and difficult to prove, alt...more I found this book a mixture of positive and negative information. There are some moving illustrations of people the author has worked with to help the process of forgiveness. On page 22 there is a great list of things that forgiveness is NOT. I liked the "Eight Steps to Freedom" on page 60 and much of the information in the following ten to fifteen pages. On the other hand I thought the author's statement that "the soul is energy" on page 29 is speculation or guessing and difficult to prove, although I would agree that the soul has energy, but I believe it is probably much more than just energy, but cannnot prove it.

Her words on page 12; "...lighten up! It doesn't have to be this hard. Your only hurting yourselves. Let go and live the universal law of loving one another. You'll feel better," come across as trivial and superficial. When addressing trauma, the kind that injures deeply, whether physical or psychological, recovering can take a very long time. A person cannot simply do those things at certain stages of injury, just because they are told to do so. Injury that causes lasting psychological pain such as PTSD changes a person. In many cases the process of recovering and becoming a functional human again takes years. Often one severly injured does not ever completely recover, or if they recover, they are a different person as a result of the trauma and injury. Forgiveness in that context takes time and a different form than before. Telling someone to do it does not initiate the change, as much as simply being present in the traumatized person's life as a friend and support person and help him/her take those first steps toward "unconditional forgiveness." In my own experience dealing with PTSD as a result of being the target of a workplace bully for over 2.5 years at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, it took more than a year before I was able to even pray for the bully and the members of management who encouraged and participated in the bullying, in what appeared to be an effort to try to get rid of me, even though I always had outstanding work evaluations.

When someone uses the term, "let go.." or "drop it" or even the word "closure" (which is one word that may not even have a right to be in the English language), I react negatively, because I received those same "orders" from management and the bully. Such instructions are simply telling the traumatized victim to go into denial and pretend that everything is OK. That is unacceptable. I doubt very much that there ever is any such thing as closure. An injured person, in order to become functional must, in many ways, become a different person and start living again from a different point in life. There is no way to go back to how he/she was before and continue as if there was "closure" and as if nothing happened, or if something bad happened, everything's OK now. On the contrary, everything is not OK. Everything has changed, and will never be the same. That is often the situation, even if the process of forgiveness had been completed, or is being completed. For a long time after being the target of bullying, I was not sure I liked the person I was forced to become in order to survive and eventually recover from the injury.

That's also my concern with the phrase at the beginning of Chapter 2 on page 35. "Time heals all, it is said, and that is basically true, if one is open to healing." In reality that's simply not true. Some injuries are permanent. Spinal cord injuries often cause permanent paralysis. PTSD can be just as permanently disabling even if there are no visible physical injuries.

People with the best of intentions often repeat sayings they've heard without actully considering what is being said. My mother used to say: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I learned long ago that that was a lie. In reality broken bones are likely to heal long before the injury and pain left by cruel or dishonest words, especially if those words are repeated. Recently I commented negatively to a Facebook message; "Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger," pointing out that that was simply not true. A lot of people who have suffered in one way or another, for example victims of child abuse or sexual abuse, have been severly weakened by that trauma. They are not necessarily stronger. They may be disabled by the experience, and/or living in fear. The indigent response I got from more than one person was that they were just the words from a song, as if that made it OK to repeat a lie. It's important to not just repeat popular phrases without actually thinking about what they are saying, and asking ourselves if those words are really true. The author of this book makes that mistake a few times.

However there is also worhwhile information in this book and you might find it beneficial.

any response?
let me know at
LeonardNolt@AOL.com

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May 15, 2013 Elyse rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A beautiful guidance book!
......A "How-To-Forgive":

Let go of suffering...
Move on...
deal with losses...
great practical wisdom, humility, and effective compassion.

.....
This little gem of a book (by a beautiful author), has crafted a fulfilling and important path to understanding and healing ourselves and finding peace!

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Jan 11, 2012 Victoria marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I cannot wait to get "Unconditional Forgiveness" . . . ! I love the author and have heard amazing things about this book! Definitely ready to read!

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Aug 01, 2012 Bill & Helene rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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About Mary Hayes Grieco

Mary Hayes Grieco has taught her powerful method of forgiveness in a wide variety of venues since 1990. With her background in psychology, and her ten years of intensive personal training with Dr. Edith Stauffer PhD, Mary has refined her method of forgiveness, as well as the way it is taught in workshops, making this life-changing process accessible to everyone. This consistently effective program...more

More about Mary Hayes Grieco...

Books by Mary Hayes Grieco

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