10 Things You Should Forgive Yourself For

No human among us is exempt from making mistakes, no matter how wise, old, or experienced in life. Now, how we deal with these mistakes is what makes all the difference. Some people choose to look at these mistakes as learning experiences, an essential aspect in their evolvement process, others carry the heavy weight of guilt and self-remorse throughout their lives without really learning what they need to. But in all cases, we should choose forgiveness, we out it to ourselves. Here are 10 things you should forgive yourself for.

 

1. Not having all the answers all the time. It is okay not to know the answers to everything, and it is okay to say you don’t know something. Knowledge is infinite, and there is no such thing as someone who has the answers to everything, to have all the info about all the topics or areas of life. Just be open to learning something every day.

 

2. Your failures. Failure is a stepping stone to success. You can try something and fail at first, but then, this failure will teach you something to avoid next time so you can make it.

 

3. Discovering your passion late in life. There is no expiry date to finding your passion life and it is never too late to start at any age. Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Darwin, and Martha Stewart are only some of the names who succeeded after 40. Maybe you are a late bloomer, and that is ok. Just give yourself time to learn more about yourself and the things you love.

 

4. Falling in love with the wrong person. Matters of the heart are not easy to understand or explain, and everyone among us had at least fallen in love once with the wrong person. Instead, be grateful for a heart that is capable of love, and stay open to love.

 

5. Burnt bridges. We hold some people so close to our hearts and deeply hope they never leave but this is not how life works. Some people only come to our lives just to serve a purpose or teach us something, when their part is over, they’ll leave and you shouldn’t hold tighter. Others may hurt us or break our trust and because of how deeply we loved them, we refuse to believe it is a bridge that needs to be burned. But rest assured burned bridges were never meant to be crossed again.

 

6. Times when all you wanted to do is nothing. You are in the wrong if you are expecting hustling every single day is the way to do it, or that taking a break or time off makes you a lazy and productive person. You owe it to yourself to just enjoy the beauty of nothingness from time to time.

 

7. Chances you missed out on. If you look at it from a different perspective you will realize that the chances you missed out on weren’t really meant for you. Maybe this door was closed for a reason that you don’t know now but later you will.

 

8. Times when you doubted yourself. We all have those moments of weakness where we may lose faith in ourselves or doubt our abilities and that is all normal and human. Just don’t dwell on that feeling, dig deep to find where it’s coming from and find your way to self-confidence once again.

 

9. Seeking approval from the wrong people. Sometimes, maybe out of despair or desperate need to be seen, accepted, and understood by others, we seek love and approval from the wrong people. We may go out of our way to please others, make a lot of compromises, or lower our standards just out of a need to be loved. It is moments of weakness that take us there but only when we know our self-worth well enough that we won’t go there once again.

 

10. Times when you were selfish. It is a good thing to love and care for others, but also we need to prioritize ourselves more often, even if it will sound selfish at times.  At some point, we all will need to put ourselves first without feeling guilty about it.  Being selfish is not a bad thing after all, as long as you balance it out. It is only when you look after your needs that you will be able to look after those of others.