I’m very glad you’ve signed up for this journey with me. I want this course to be helpful to you, knowing that forgiveness will uplift both you and the world.

You may be currently struggling with an addiction, or perhaps a loved one lives with one, or maybe you’re in recovery and want more tools. Everyone is welcome here. I hope what I offer is supportive and effective for you on your life journey. As you’ve heard before (because it’s true), you will get a lot out of this course if you put a lot in: your honesty, openness, willingness, commitment and trust. I hope you’ll do this course for yourself, and put your whole heart into it.

As for me, I trust in YOU. On a spiritual level, I know your inner light because I recognize it in myself. We are much more than what our 3D life reveals. We are not simply personalities with bodies and angst. In truth, we are beautiful and noble at our core; we shine with a light given to us by our Creator (however you imagine this to be).

If you’re feeding an addiction or in recovery, you know how destructive habits can take you away from your true essence. In this course, we will choose a new path of integrity and health. For if we want happiness despite the competing and conflicting voices in our heads, then we must turn toward happiness. How else can we find it but to go in its direction?

I’ve spent much of my adult life studying and teaching peacemaking of various kinds. Along the way, I discovered the work of Colin Tipping called Radical Forgiveness. Impressed by how much transformation came out of it, I became a forgiveness counselor and later, a recovery coach. As I got into my personal forgiveness practice, I easily saw how my suffering was entwined with my addictive patterns, both obvious and subtle.

When I learned to forgive in this expanded way (it’s not traditional forgiveness – more about that in Lesson Three), my life opened up and my fears and phobias melted away. Forgiveness continually helps me to let go of my fears, anxieties, weird mind loops and cultural conditioning. When I was ready, I committed my heart and soul to not only my personal healing, but to sharing whatever good came out of it with others. The calm and happiness I feel consistently today was only a dream before I discovered this essential key for awakening. I share it with you so that you, too, can turn your mind toward healing, love and service.

Addictions of all kinds bring you down and keep you down – until you make the inner decision to face yourself and your fears, and commit to your healing.

I’ve never had an addiction to a substance that ruined my life. Yes, I had a daily pot habit when I was a teenager and I also smoked cigarettes during that time, but I managed to let both go without a lot of hassle in my early twenties. That doesn’t mean I lived without addictions. As we’ll see in Lesson Four, there are many subtle, destructive habits that live virulently below the surface of our conscious minds. I found plenty of them running around inside me, once I had the courage to take an honest look. A longer version of my personal story is in my book, Forgive and Be Free.

It’s become clear to me that it’s not the substance or behavior that makes an addiction – it’s clinging to a false image and our desire to escape a fearful reality that seems to bind our mind into an addicted state. Fortunately, our fears and pain can be softened and unbound with forgiveness, compassion, and new healthy habits. We’ll learn a lot about that in the eight lessons of this course.