Feeling Stuck? It's Time to Take Inventory of Your Life! >> Access our 'You Are' Here' Exercise Now
Looking for the Lessons and the Blessings in Every Experience
DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING WE GET A SMALL COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH OUR LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.
What if the key to emotional peace, stronger relationships, and even professional success was hidden behind one decision...the decision to forgive?
In this powerful episode of Recounting Life Lessons, we sit down with musician, author, and forgiveness advocate Kory Livingstone, who vulnerably shares his personal journey of pain, healing, and transformation. Kory opens up about his complicated relationship with his father, the emotional wall built over decades, and how choosing to understand rather than judge became a turning point in his life.
Whether you're carrying unspoken resentment, trying to heal a relationship, or seeking personal peace, Kory's story is packed with insights and hope. He also shares how unresolved resentment can silently derail not only your personal happiness—but also your professional potential.
Listen now if you're ready to break free from resentment and reclaim your peace!
7 lessons on forgiveness, healing, and growth (inspired by kory livingstone's story)
- Understanding Helps in the Healing Process: When we take time to understand why something happened—whether that's digging into someone's background, our own unmet needs, or patterns we've inherited—it can create space for compassion, clarity, and closure. Understanding doesn't mean justifying someone's actions, but it does allow us to see things from a wider perspective. This can soften the intensity of pain, making it easier to let go and move forward. Healing often begins when we shift from asking, "Why did they do this to me?" to "What can I learn from this?"
- Forgiveness Doesn't Excuse the Pain—It Releases It's Power Over You: Forgiveness isn't about saying what happened was okay. It's about saying, "I choose not to let this control me anymore." When you hold onto anger or pain, it continues to affect your thoughts, your energy, and your relationships. Forgiveness is a radical act of reclaiming your emotional freedom. It's not about denying the hurt, but deciding that your peace matters more than staying stuck in a cycle of pain and blame.
- Resentment Can Sabotage Success—At Home and at Work: Unresolved hurt and lingering resentment quietly shape our behavior, decisions, and how we show up. Whether it's distrust in relationships, low self-worth, or a short fuse, unhealed wounds can keep us from reaching our potential. In professional settings, it can impact leadership, teamwork, or the ability to confidently pursue opportunities. At home, it can lead to disconnection or defensiveness. Letting go of resentment helps restore clarity, joy, and alignment with your goals.
- You Don't Have to Wait for an Apology to Let Go: Many people feel stuck waiting for closure or accountability that may never come. But freedom doesn't have to depend on someone else's awareness, remorse, or words. Choosing to let go is about empowering yourself to move on with or without that apology. You can acknowledge the truth of what happened, honor your emotions, and still decide to take your power back. Your healing is your responsibility—and that's actually a beautiful, liberating truth.
- Breaking Generational Cycle Starts with a Choice: Often, the pain we carry didn't start with us—it's part of a larger story, passed down through behaviors, beliefs, or trauma. But it can end with us. By choosing to forgive, to understand, and to do the healing work, you become the chain-breaker. It might feel hard or unfair, but your courage creates a ripple effect—for your children, your community, and even the past versions of you who needed someone to say, "This ends here."
- Forgiveness is a Process—Not a One-Time Event: Real, deep forgiveness often happens in layers. You might think you've moved on, and then something triggers old pain again—and that's okay. Healing is not linear. There's power in revisiting your story with fresh eyes, stronger boundaries, and a wiser heart. Give yourself grace as you evolve. You're not doing it wrong just because it still hurts sometimes—you're just in the middle of the process.
- You Have More Power Than You Think: Sometimes pain convinces us we're powerless—that we're victims of what happened. But choosing forgiveness, healing, and growth is one of the most powerful things you can do. You are not defined by what happened to you—you're defined by how you rise from it. Every act of letting go, every boundary, every shift in mindset is a declaration that you are the hero of your story. And the more you reclaim your power, the more you give others permission to do the same.
More ways to listen:
About kory livingstone & Links Mentioned in episode:
Kory is a talented musician, author, and transformational speaker based in Toronto, Canada who uses his personal journey of healing and forgiveness to inspire others. With a passion for helping individuals break through emotional barriers and release resentment, Kory also works with leaders and organizations to eliminate workplace tension and create more cohesive, high-performing teams.
With a career spanning over three decades, he has seamlessly blended his musical talents with motivational speaking to inspire personal and professional growth. His book, Quiet Determination, draws on lessons from his musical journey to offer insights into achieving success. And through his unique "Keynote Concerts," Livingstone combines live musical performances with motivational talks, engaging audiences in a memorable experience that emphasizes the power of music and mindset in overcoming challenges.
- Free Book Offer: Quiet Determination: 15 Ways to Break the Barriers of Your Untapped Success (just cover the shipping). Email Kory at kory@korylivingstone.com and mention this episode
- Website: www.korylivingstone.com
- Learn more about The Best Year Ever Blueprint Course here
Main Takeaways and Golden Nuggets from This Episode
Here are a few of the powerful takeaways from our conversation with Kory Livingstone:
- Forgiveness is a choice—but it's also a process: Kory's journey wasn't instant. It unfolded slowly, one memory at a time, one brick at a time. And it took intention and effort on his part. Forgiveness often works the same way. It's not always something that can be achieved in an instant or single moment. It's an ongoing decision and intentional release.
- Understanding is a key in the forgiveness process: Kory shared that "Once you understand why someone does what they do, it changes everything." He emphasized that forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting or excusing someone's behavior—it means releasing the weight of resentment. When we seek understanding, we stop seeing people only as villains in our story and begin to see the fuller picture. And when we do that we release ourselves from the stories and assumptions that drain our attention and energy away from things that matter more to us.
- You have the power to break the cycle: When we've experienced hurt or abuse or had to deal with the negative consequences of someone else's choices, whether they were intended to inflict pain or not, we have the opportunity to use our experience and awareness to break the cycle. Kory shared how he made a vow after the beatings he endured to not repeat it with his own children: "Not me." He chose to be a different kind of father. A different kind of man. He broke the pattern—and because of that, his children got a different story.
"We broke down the wall one brick at a time." -Kory Livingstone
Listen now to hear how Kory broke his emotional wall—one brick at a time
Tips for applying these takeaways:
Want to apply these insights to your life? Here are some actionable steps you can take today:
- If you're ready to begin the process of forgiving, ask yourself: What's one small brick I'm ready to let go of today? You don't have to tear down the whole wall right away. Just start somewhere. And keep choosing your peace over your pain.
- Think of someone you're struggling to forgive. Then ask yourself: What is in their past? What pain or patterns shaped them? You don't have to agree with their actions, but seeing the bigger picture might help you soften the grip of resentment and allow you to direct more of your energy and focus onto things that are more empowering.
- If there's something in your past that you were taught, inherited, endured, or experienced that you know doesn't serve you or the people you love, make your own "not me" declaration. And remind yourself that your past may have shaped you, but it doesn't define you. You get to choose what sticks and gets passed on.
Listen now to start shifting your energy and relationships for a more positive & empowering life!
final thoughts: forgiveness isn't about them—it's about you
Forgiveness can feel like the hardest thing to do, especially when the pain is deep and the wound is old. But what Kory Livingstone's story reminds us is that forgiveness doesn't erase the past—it reclaims your power in the present.
It doesn't mean forgetting or letting someone off the hook. It means choosing to live without the weight of resentment, with more compassion, clarity, and emotional freedom. And in a world filled with stress, division, and pressure to perform that choice is revolutionary.
If you're an overwhelmed achiever who feels like something is still weighing you down, this episode is your invitation to start setting it down—one brick at a time.
Stay tuned for more inspiring episodes as we and people from all walks of life share their experiences and we identify the lessons, blessings, and success principles that life is providing—lessons that we can all take advantage of and learn from if we pay attention.
If you're ready to step into your full potential, make sure to listen to the episode and share it with someone who could benefit from this powerful message. And don't forget to subscribe to Recounting Life Lessons and jump onto our Insider email list for more insights, actionable tips, and empowering stories.
We are Sione & Alana
Co-Hosts and Owners of
Recounting Life Lessons
We're a married couple from Hawaii who are now living in Vancouver, Washington.
Two things that we are passionate about are:
1) Uncovering the success principles and life lessons that help us all grow into our best selves.
Our favorite ways to uncover success principles and life lessons are by sharing stories from our own adventures and interviewing inspiring guests from all walks of life on our podcast.
2) Making personal growth and consistently leveling up in your life simple and sustainable, no matter what your circumstances are.
We take special care to craft the programs and resources we create, in a way, that keeps things simple and easy to follow-through on.
Through our blog, podcast, courses, and programs, we aim to empower you to grow into your best self, live with purpose, and make a meaningful impact on the world around you.
Create Your Plan to Make the next 12 Months Your Best Year Ever
Discover the ultimate guide for designing a clear vision, simplifying decision making, and implementing a 3 step-daily plan to make your top goal a reality.
Get Unstuck, Get Clarity, & Take Action
Discover the simple yet powerful framework for turning overwhelm into empowering actions
Unlock Insights for a Better Year Ahead
Grab this free guide to get key reflections for taking inventory of the last 12 month...
Master a New Habit in 100 Days
Grab this free tracker to help you build better habits to transform your life
Inspiration & life's lessons every week!
Join our Recounting Life Lessons community and receive a fresh dose of inspiration, personal insights, and practical takeaways every week. Through life's highs, lows, and everything in between, we share lessons that help you grow, reflect, and thrive. Sign up now to stay connected and uncover the wisdom in your own journey!
