Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

There is no greater power in heaven or on earth than pure, unconditional love.  The nature of the God force, the unseen intelligence in all things, which causes the material world and is the center of both the spiritual and physical plane, is best described as pure, unconditional love. This God force is the oversoul to which we are always connected because we are localized extensions of that force.

I suggest you embark on an experiment in which you practice only unconditional love for several days. Vow to yourself that you will only allow unconditional loving thoughts to emanate from your consciousness. Make an intense proclamation to live unconditional love. During this time, refuse to have judgmental or critical thoughts. In your quiet time, think only peace and love. In all of your relationships, think and act in only loving ways. Extend loving thoughts and energy wherever and whenever you encounter anyone or anything. Become unconditional love for this period of time.

By pouring love into your immediate environment and practicing gentleness in all of your thoughts, words, and actions, your immediate circle of friends will begin responding in a whole new way. This act becomes expansive very quickly and you can radiate this love to your whole community. You become detached and loving toward all. You are not loving the hostile acts of others, but you are loving the spirit that is blocked in those who are harmful and unloving. When you can live this way and reject all thoughts and actions that are not of an unconditionally loving nature, you will experience the essence of your spirit and discover how to overcome limitations in your life.

What can you expect as you practice a few days of being total unconditional love? If all of your meditations are devoted to love, and if you pour love into every single situation and every single person you meet, and beyond that to everyone on the planet and to the infinity of the universe, you will feel yourself becoming a different person. You will sleep more soundly. You will feel at peace virtually all of the time. Your relationships will be more deeply spiritual. You will begin recognizing the “coincidences” of your life with greater regularity. Your thought forms of unconditional love will begin to produce what you desire without your even being aware of how it is happening. Your dreams will be more intense, and the vision of your purpose will become clearer.

A recent caller to my radio show told me that although she could forgive other people easily, the hardest thing to do was to forgive herself.  In thinking about this very common problem, here’s what you have to consider: Everything that you’ve done in your life up until this moment, you had to do. The proof of this is that you did it!

Everything you did is over now. You can’t take any of it back. In The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the poet says, “The Moving Finger writes: and having writ,/ Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit/ Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,/ Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”

The fact that we can’t erase the past says something to us. We are called on to forgive ourselves, to honor what is past, to love and respect it. Look back and say, “That’s what I needed to do, that’s the person I needed to be at that time in my life. I did that, and I’ve learned from it. Now I can move on.” 

Take the present moments you have now and use them in joy and love—not in anguishing over what you should or shouldn’t have done or how you weren’t good enough. You were the person you were supposed to be then so you could become the person you are now. You needed to do the things you did in order to find out how you didn’t want to be. Rather than cursing the past, bless it and forgive yourself entirely. When you know that all of those experiences were a part of the divine design of your life, you can afford to forgive.

So many things that I did in my life, I look back and think that I would never do those things today. And yet all of my past actions have contributed to helping me be the man I am today. Say to yourself, “I had to be that person and I’ve learned from him (or her).” Forgiving yourself is every bit as important as forgiving other people. You did the best that you could, given the conditions of your life, and you can’t ask any more of yourself or of anyone else. Forgive yourself and welcome love back into your life. When you can do this, a kind of balancing occurs. Rather than atoning for sins with guilt, you are more committed to promoting joy and service. You will begin to do what you originally came here to do.