In a recent training, I was fascinated by an exercise that involved “floating back” to previous hurts linked to memories in the past. As I sat with my partner before the exercise, I knew the initial memory I was struggling with but couldn’t see how it could possibly connect to other areas of my past. As soon as we started, I bounced back about 3 years to a similar situation, then 5 more, then 10 more before that. It was as if the memory, the situation, and my reaction to the situation were all in a vein pumping through the arc of my existence.
I believe we are holistic beings connected in mind, body, and spirit. Still, this exercise shows our connections to hurts and, potentially, also to successes. It also gave me a visual of what I experience frequently with my coaching clients:
- The client walks forward, and they find a place of resistance.
- As they identify it and work to alleviate it, other areas of their life come loose.
- The client begins to walk farther in greater freedom.
What is found in both circumstances is a willingness to see what is pulling at us—keeping us from walking forward freely. Colossians 1:13-14 says:
He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We cannot heal unless we see what needs to be healed and we speak that desire. Redemption is there—it’s promised. Healing may even lead to redemption of past pains you have long since forgotten. It may even lead to generational freedom you thought would be a life sentence for your children and your children’s children.
Now, I ask you:
- Do you see something you are currently working on that could be related to something else?
- What is the one area of healing in your life you are not willing to touch?
- What else in your life might be healed if you do?