One of the heaviest feelings we have to carry is knowing that the only way to remove the bitterness and anger in our hearts towards another person is through forgiveness. It can be so easy to miss all the good things because that hate already clouds our hearts. Bearing her soul in this episode, Carrie Miller shares a touching story between her and her mother about forgiveness and how she was able to cross the gap between them. She then provides some brain science to back up the claims that show the harm of being unforgiving to our bodies and well-being. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do, but when you finally come to terms with it, it can be healing to your mind, body, and soul. 

—

Listen to the podcast here:

 

Forgiveness: The Path To Healing Your Mind, Body, And Soul

How are you? I am excited that you’re here in the show where we stand for truth and brain health and all things healthy in this world. I guarantee you, we are known for being authentic here and absolutely no sugarcoating in this space. Let’s talk. You’ve seen the title and you’ve still chosen to read this. I want to say thank you and applaud you because no one likes to go there, that forgiveness thing. It can be a hard subject to talk about, but we need to go there because it’s healing to your mind, body, and soul. I’m going to give it my best shot to share with you a story. I’ve got lots of them, but this one is special.

Before we get started, I want to share with you a little secret. I personally cannot take credit for what happened in this story because I simply don’t do anything special, but God did. This story I want to share is about my mama. She’s the reason I do what I do. She’s the reason for the birth of this show. It’s because of her dementia diagnosis. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. Many of you have heard her story and the story of the medical professionals prescribing her seventeen meds and the changes we chose to make over time. It’s an amazing story within itself. You’ll not want to miss it. It’s episode 1. You can go check it out. The full story is there.

I want to share a heartfelt story, a story of restoration, and what God can do in the midst of suffering. You see me and my mama, we didn’t see eye to eye on much of anything almost all our lives. She was my mama and I loved her, but we didn’t have that special bond as mother and daughters most often do. There were very few shopping trips and not a whole lot of special lunches or nail appointments together, or sit-down heart to heart talks for hours. Those kinds of talks that you have with your daughter when you start to giggle and the laughter and those emotional rollercoaster talks where you’re supposed to shut up and be the listener because that’s what she needs you for now. Talks about life, your daughter’s dreams, her hopes or fears, all those insecurities of doing life as a young girl and a young lady.

Life is hard and sometimes they need you for nothing else but to be heard. They want to be understood. When they feel a certain way and if they fail at something, maybe they need you to be real. I’d like to say my mama was all those things, but I can’t. That’s okay because she taught me so much more. The unfortunate thing is that I couldn’t see any of the good things because my heart was full of bitterness and anger towards her for so many things. I held on to every argument and disagreement. I held a grudge at every turn. That unforgiveness can be pretty destructive.

 

Most of you know the studies out there. They show that a major cause of depression stems from a lack of forgiving others. Dr. Chris Kresser says that chronic stress and the cascade of changes it causes in the body is second on...