Meeting Unloving Circumstances with Love

Monday was the first day of an 8 day Peace Training Camp hosted by Sheva Carr and Marilyn King. This free event is for anyone committed to peace as a personal orientation and it started off with a bang. Gitta Ryle, a holocaust survivor, was interviewed last evening and her message of forgiveness was profound. Sheva did an excellent job of summing up her words of wisdom for anyone facing an unforgivable circumstance:

1) Make an inner choice - make a choice to not hold on to the experiences in the physical body. Do not forget, for this protects us and honors our life experience but make a conscious decision to move beyond the pain. Gitta spoke of how her physical body began to break down and become sick when Gitta's children became the age she was when separated from her mother and father during World War II. At this point in her life, Gitta made a choice to not just exist but to live and begin to heal and eventually thrive in spite of her horrible circumstances. Her first step was making the inner choice to forgive.

2) Align with what you love - once Gitta made the inner choice to forgive, she said her energy was suddenly freed and she began to see the gifts in her life experiences. Her family had great musical talent and she remembered fondly that which she loved and had been denied for so many years. She rekindled this passion and it became her fuel, her honey, so to speak. She began sharing her gift of music with others and thus became a lighting rod for her core value of cultivating beauty in any given circumstance. When Gitta aligned with and nurtured what she loved, her healing accelerated.

3) Ask for help - Gitta acknowledged with gratitude all the people who helped her to safety and to eventually overcome her tragic circumstances. With the help of caring family, friends and professionals, she was able to confront the issues rather than "stuff them into the body."

4) Have a sense of purpose - lastly, Gitta expressed that when she became free of the great weight of unforgiveness, her freed energy had a purpose. She began speaking to young people as a surviving, thriving witness. In Gitta's interview with Sheva, she spoke of the Yin and Yang of life and that some people are inclined to help while others are inclined to harm, this is human choice. Gitta made a conscious choice to offer comfort and support and be a role model for forgiveness, what is possible and living this actuality.

After the interview wrapped up, I took a humble guess at Gitta's North Star, that which is her guiding light and life's orientation--meet unlovable circumstances with love.

If you have interest in joining the 8 day Peace Training Camp, visit this page, where all talks beginning this past Monday, July 8, through all 8 days can be accessed. If you don't have a Facebook account and would like the links sent to download the talks, please contact me, and I will happily send you all links. Here is the link to listen to Sheva Carr's interview with Gitta . Here's another link to a Heart Start call with Sheva, introducing the amazing heart-empowered, Gitta Ryle. May we learn from her extreme example of meeting unlovable circumstances with love.