Forgiveness is the Ultimate Weight Loss – by Jon Gordon

While some people share their favorite sayings with car bumper stickers, there is a horse farmer in North East Florida who shares his own profound quotes by posting signs for thousands of drivers to see on the way to and from work. This past week he posted a sign that said, "Forgiveness is the Ultimate Weight Loss." It made me think about a woman at one of my seminars who said she lost 180 lbs immediately after she ended a bad relationship. Wow, I thought, that's some serious weight loss. "Well," she said, "that's how much he weighed."

Sure there are many diets out there trying to help us lose weight but what many of us need to go on is a NEGATIVE ENERGY DIET. If you've ever ended a negative relationship or quit a job you absolutely hated or forgiven someone... you know what it means to remove negative energy, the kind that weighs you down like a ton of bricks, from your life. After you rid this person, job or resentment from your life you literally felt lighter and freer. You lost weight, felt happier and made positive changes in your life.

One of my favorite quotes says, "Holding on to resentment and anger is like grasping hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who is getting burned." Resentment, anger and negative energy also slows you down, limits your true potential and causes you to feel heavier. It's no wonder weight gain accompanies the most difficult times in our lives. Sure, stress hormones, emotional eating, and lack of sleep are the mechanisms that pack the pounds on but underneath the hood, underlying all physical and chemical processes is ENERGY. This is a scientific fact.

So if we want to be lighter, freer and happier we must change our energy. We must go on a negative energy diet and clear out the negative energy that is weighing us down. And the best place to start is to FORGIVE. When you do you will experience the ultimate weight loss diet.

Action Steps

Ask Forgiveness Questions:
Ask yourself today who do you need to forgive? Who are you still angry at? What negative experience are you still thinking about? Are you still upset about a situation at work? Are you mad at a co-worker or boss? Do you feel like someone let you down? Think about who or what is holding you back. I did this a few years ago and it made all the difference.

Make the Decision to Let Go:
Forgiveness is a choice. It's not easy but you can ask your heart and your mind to forgive. Perhaps you need to forgive a co-worker, a boss, a friend or relative to let go of the negative energy. Even the central park jogger chose to forgive her attackers who left her for dead because she wanted to live a new life instead of die every day.

Forgive for You:
Remember you don't forgive because you feel bad for someone. You forgive because you know that holding on to anger and resentment only hurts you, your happiness and success. The person you are forgiving doesn't even have to be alive or accept your forgiveness. But by forgiving you release all the hate, anger and pain that prevents the positive energy from flowing through you. When you forgive the positive energy flows and so does your life.

Sending Positive Energy your Way,
Jon

Jon Gordon is a leading authority on developing positive, engaged people, leaders, schools, businesses and teams. He is the author of The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel your Work, Live and Team with Positive Energy, The 10-Minute Energy Solution and Energy Addict: 101 Ways to Energize Your Life. Jon's proven solutions are being put to use by people and organizations worldwide and his tips have been featured on CNN, the NBC Today Show, Men’s Health, Forbes, Positive Thinking Magazine, and more. He is also the co-founder of PEP- The Positive Energy Program, which creates and funds programs that develop healthy, positive children around the world. Learn more and sign up for Jon’s free weekly energy tip newsletter at www.JonGordon.com

(Reprinted with Permission © Copyright 2007 The Jon Gordon Companies)