The Art of Letting Go: Embracing Freedom through Forgiveness

Discover the transformative power of “letting go” in our latest podcast episode. Author Katharine Giovanni shows us how forgiveness can be a powerful catalyst for personal and professional growth. Tune in to learn how releasing anger and old hurts can open doors to new opportunities and deeper connections. Show Notes | Transcript "Forgiveness does not mean they were right. Forgiveness is selfish. You do it for yourself. You do it because you want to get them out of your head." - Katharine Giovanni Three-time award-winning, best-selling author Katharine Giovanni carried a heavy load of anger for years before she discovered the transformative power of forgiveness. After retiring from a successful career in the concierge industry, Katharine poured her knowledge into a new book, “The Ultimate Path to Forgiveness: Unlocking Your Power.” By sharing her experience, Katharine helps us understand that forgiveness is a skill we can learn, and it can lead us to a happier, more peaceful life. Her story is an inspiration for anyone who wants to make a career change. It shows us that everything we've done in the past helps us grow and adapt to new challenges. In this episode, you will learn: The pivotal moment leading to Katharine’s journey towards forgiveness The ongoing nature of forgiveness as a path to personal growth The value of forgiving small grievances and working up to more significant ones Forgiveness as a tool for self-liberation, not condoning negative acts The significance of forgiving inanimate objects and circumstances Katharine's professional transition and application of forgiveness Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network Connect with Katharine Giovanni: Website: katharinegiovanni.com Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Do you find it tough to forgive people sometimes? I know it's not always easy, but stay tuned, because today's guest has a step-by-step process to help you find the path to understanding and peace through forgiveness. And if this is your first time here, welcome. I am Gloria Grace. I help female entrepreneurs release negative thought patterns like self-doubt, so you can grow a business that aligns with your soul's purpose, and I'm so really just excited about our guest today because I feel we're already aligned, actually, and just the brief moments I had to talk with her before I bring her on, which I will do here in just a moment but let me tell you about her. Her name is Katharine Giovanni and she's a three-time award-winning bestselling author of 12 books, a dynamic speaker, trainer and advisor, and she also has a corporate background too, which we'll probably talk about a little bit as well. But her latest work is called the Ultimate Path to Forgiveness Unlocking your Power, and it offers profound insights into the transformative power of forgiveness. So, without further ado, let's dive right into this and I'm going to bring on Katharine to the podcast. So welcome, welcome. So glad you're here. Katharine Giovanni (Guest) Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Well, I want to talk about, I usually ask our guests, like what got you into doing what you're doing today? So in a way, I am doing that because I want to know from you what got you interested in forgiveness that you decided to write a book about it? Katharine Giovanni (Guest) Well, anger, to be honest, and how to permanently forgive people. Because when you forgive people, some of them have a nasty habit of not staying forgiven. And it started way back in the eighth grade when my parents were getting an ugly divorce with all the bells and whistles. I was getting bullied and schooled really badly and I tried to commit suicide. So I spent the next 15 years that angry teenager, stereotypical angry teenager, and I kind of went into my twenties, went into my thirties. My mother died, and I realized that I couldn't continue my life the way it was. So I decided to change, one morning, on a dime really, and that's when I discovered that forgiving people kind of made me feel better and that started the journey. Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Wow, and it seems like, okay, that's great that you just decided on a dime that you're going to do that. And I know, I saw this, I think, in looking at your book it's like, okay, yeah, people tell us all the time that you know forgive or forgive and forget, but it's not always easy to do that, especially depending on how hurt you are by what someone has done. So when you decided that, okay, I can't live this way anymore, but then how did you actually decide to do that? Katharine Giovanni (Guest) Well, I kind of read an article, but in back in those days we really didn't have the computer. You know, if you wanted something, you got a magazine, a book, you went to the, you went to the library, that's. That's how old I am. So I decided to just forgive people and I decided to be positive and I kind of bumbled my way through life for a while doing that. But the thing about forgiveness is everybody teaches you how that you have to forgive your pastor, your minister, your teachers, your parents. You have to forgive. You'll learn that in the sandbox when you're a kid. Nobody teaches you how. So everybody listening to this broadcast or watching this broadcast right now, when you think of forgiveness on a 10 scale, with 10 being the most horrific, unforgivable thing, you're all thinking of your number 10 person and you don't want to forgive that person. Neither did I. So what I teach people is you don't have to forgive your number 10. This is what I've learned. You don't, because there is a whole bunch of other things you can forgive before you even get to that person and that person. It might be an unforgivable act. It might not even be appropriate for you to forgive. There are some very, very beautiful, loving people on the planet who are capable of forgiving a number 10. For the rest of us, it's a bear. So I want you to start with your number ones. I want you to start with the easy ones, and then you work your way up to the number 10 people. Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Well, that certainly makes a lot of sense. You know it's baby steps, I think, with just about anything in life when you want to learn, I mean, this is a skill just as much as anything else that we would do in life. So, to be able to start with the things that you can do, have you found, is it? I mean you? You mentioned that you know there's certain people, you know certainly that, really spiritual people, perhaps, or or you know, who can forgive those tens. You know, and I'm thinking of you know, let's, let's just say the first name that popped up in my head was, was and again, see, I'm showing my age to Ted Bundy. Okay, so he was a mass murderer from a long time ago, yeah, but if you were, you know, let's say, the parent of one of his victims, you know, is it possible for someone, even like following what you're talking about, to be able to come to a place where they could be able to forgive? Katharine Giovanni (Guest) There's a lot of other things. I want you to start with the number ones first, purposely because, once you, I want you to sit down and I want you to write a list of people, places and things. I did say places and things yes, I did. And I want you to just kind of stream it. And then I want you to label all of these things from one to ten, and you could have multiple ones. You can have, you know, five, fives if you want, it's all good, it's all correct. And you leave the eights, nines and tens. You do those absolutely dead last and you start with the ones and you kind of work your way up. And there's other things you could forgive. For example, let's take the number tens. You know there's other things you can forgive. Let's take a horrific example of rape. Let's say you were raped, or it's a Ted Bundy thing, you know, whatever it was. There's other things you can forgive because you don't want to forgive the rapist, because they were wrong. But forgiveness does not mean they were right. Forgiveness is selfish. You do it for yourself. You do it because you want to get them out of your head. You want to stop thinking about it all the time, because that's what you're doing when you're angry all you're doing is thinking of this person. Now, for those of us, for those people who are listening to this broadcast, I'm about to hold a glass in front of my face. So I'm holding this glass. This glass is anger. So if I hold this glass too long, eventually it's all I can see. I can't see the opportunities coming in front of me because I am in my anger now. It's all I am, it's all I can see, it's all I can talk about, it's all I can breathe about. So you want to put the glass down. You want to get these people out of your head. So there's other things you can forgive. You can forgive the bed, the table, the chair, the building. You can forgive yourself. You can forgive yourself. You can forgive all these other things before you even forgive that person. Now here's the secret sauce to the entire thing the reason people don't stay forgiven is because you didn't forgive the energy. Einstein said and proved that energy is neither created nor destroyed and everything on the planet has an energy around it. If you're spiritual, you might call it an aura. Well, what happens when we get angry? You think that you get angry and the words just kind of float into the air and dissipate. Sadly, they do not. They hang in your energy field. So the more angry you get, the darker your energy field is going to be, to the point where you are literally a walking dark thundercloud,...