A Ritual

We all get stuck from time to time in our lives. We can't seem to find the courage to move forward or to change directions from the path that we are on. We get tied up with what has gone on before and think that since we cannot change our past, we cannot control our future.

A friend of mine suggested that the root of the problem may be that we are holding onto angst or anger at ourselves or others. We have all made decisions in our lives that we regret; decisions that may have seemed right at the time or even worse, were thoughtless. Others have that same right, to make made bad decisions and to be thoughtless. Some may have made decisions that seemed hateful and deliberate, and maybe they were - those decisions are usually made out of fear.

So even when you may not be able to understand why you are feeling so stuck in your life, sometimes it is a good idea just to let go, emotionally that is. My friend suggested the following ritual, it did make me feel better:

Fill a bathtub with nice warm bath water, no soaps but unscented salts are fine. Add white flowers- real white flowers, daisies or mums or carnations or roses or whatever you can find that are real white flowers. Strip down naked and step into the bath and soak. Let your mind wander freely with no other mental push other than "forgive." That's it, just the word forgive, over and over. Forgive your self for the bad decisions you have made. Forgive others for the bad decisions they made the have affected you. Forgive. Forgive. Occasionally pour the water over your head. Forgive.

When the water starts getting uncomfortably cool, get out and towel off. Use a strainer to collect all the wet white flowers and dispose of them with finality and purpose. They have absorbed your guilt and your anger now dispose of them. Get them away from you as far as possible as soon as possible. Don't let them sit in a trash can, but remove them from your home, flush them, burn them, bury them in a dumpster just get them away from you forever. Trust me, if they are allowed to sit even a short time, they will rot and stink up the place quickly.

You may want to follow this up with burning a little sage for a good smudging. Will this solve all of your problems forever? No. However, it may make you see how silly it is to hold onto things that have no bearing on how you choose to live your future.