Forgiving Yourself

What does it mean to forgive yourself? In my life, forgiving myself means returning my heart to the true love of God, stopping the negative self-talk reels that can loop again and again in my mind, and having a soft approach to myself and my heart. It can be so easy to be so hard on ourselves when we’re faced with past mistakes and let downs, but we all need to remember that we’re all here to learn, grow, and become. We weren’t born knowing everything – that’s why we were born.

“Hurt people, hurt people.” – Will Bowen

This wise quote has truly helped me to remember that the times when I’d acted out and hurt others in the past were truly out of my own pain and sadness and not out of a desire to hurt others. I was in too much pain, and that it turn caused me to make others feel pain.

If there are times in your life that you’re having a hard time forgiving yourself for, have some compassion for yourself. Do the best you can to halt the negative self-talk and hold yourself in love. Be kind to yourself. Be gentle with yourself. If it seems appropriate and right, you can reach out to the person you’ve hurt and ask for forgiveness. Whether or not you’ve made amends, you can still come to a place of peace towards yourself as a child of God.

Some concrete ways I’ve done this have been:

• Mentally walking myself through the situation, blessing and shining light on it, and asking for healing for everyone involved
• Saying positive affirmations to myself when I find myself reliving difficult situations
• Breathing & meditating
• Praying to God and the angels

I hope these thoughts help you! You can forgive yourself. You are a perfect human on a beautiful journey. Be gentle towards yourself.