I have mentioned many times in my blog posts that I love  to walk on Wallis Sands Beach in Rye, New Hampshire. I’m blessed to live near  the seacoast. I try to walk every day. At the end of Wallis Sands, there’s a  flowing body of water called Stinky Creek which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. I  don’t know this for a fact but I was told it got its Stinky name, because  there’s an old ship wreck under the creek which doesn’t allow for proper  drainage and circulation of the water flowing down from the mountains of New  Hampshire. Many days, the water pools and there’s a very noticeable odor  emanating from Creek.

As I approach Stinky Creek during my daily walk, I pick  up a rock or two on the beach. I say to myself, I forgive and release…(whomever is  rubbing me the wrong way that day) to God, and throw the rock into the creek.  A Course in Miracles says that all it takes is a Little Willingness to forgive.  By taking something I possess–a rock containing the negative energy of my  unforgiveness, with intention, I toss my stinky unforgiveness into Stinky  Creek…and it’s released. As many spiritual teachers will tell you, releasing  an unforgiveness is more for the person doing the forgiving than it is for the  person forgiven. Some days, you have to forgive yourself, and that’s Ok. If you  don’t have an ocean nearby, you go to a park and throw a penny into a fountain  and release your unforgiveness.Whatever works for you.

Enjoy this Excerpt from PORTSMOUTH, A LOVE STORY

She hadn’t spoken to her mother for many years. As a young woman, she had made several attempts to draw a line in the sand as to the level of negative energy she would take from her before she would finally leave the relationship. After many attempts, she had to admit that the woman was completely unconscious. To stay and continue interacting with her would be submitting herself to an emotionally dangerous environment. Her mother knew her weak points and most of all, how to extract guilt.

What she had learned after studying about spirituality was that manipulation and control is not love. There was no obligation to stay in a family that was harmful to her spirit.

Severine thought she had successfully let go of her toxic past but now it was coming back to haunt her. She was told there was still a lingering unforgiveness blocking her path.

I have no interest in opening that old can of worms again. I can’t see how that would do any good. I can’t change her. I just need to INTEND to forgive her. Not that I believe my mother was right about anything. That’s for sure. I’m doing it for ME…and my future.

At sunset, to mark the occasion, she returned to Wallis Sands and headed over to the point where Stinky Creek emptied into the Atlantic. She took a rock from the beach and said out loud, I forgive and release my mother to God.

In a split second, she decided to pick up another rock. She threw the rock into the water and watched it sink to the bottom and said, I forgive and release Peter Nicholas to God.

With sincere intention to surrender all past anger and any lurking unforgiveness, the rooms of her Spirit were swept clean. She was now ready to embrace a new family, whoever that might be.

R. Ann Rousseau writes about metaphysical, spiritual and astrology  topics on her blog Explore Beyond the Usual. She is author of the new novel Portsmouth, A Love  Story. 

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