Forgiving Yourself for Past Mistakes: Why It’s a Must You Move On

We often find ourselves stuck in the past, blaming ourselves for things we could have done differently. It’s hard to forget the mistakes we’ve once made, but it shouldn’t stop you from moving forward in life. To completely move on, you must practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is not something you do for the other person but for yourself.

Forgiving without receiving an apology will make you feel better internally, and you won’t harbor feelings for years at a time. When you’re learning to forgive yourself, if you feel you need to apologize to yourself, then do so. But it is not always necessary.

There are many steps to forgiveness, but in this article, we will mainly talk about forgiving ourselves. Inner work can be a difficult thing to do, which is why so many people avoid it. Most people have a hard time accepting the past mistakes they’ve made…avoiding the fact that it’s shaped them into the person they are today.

Emotional healing

As women, we can be extremely emotional and sometimes irrational, even to ourselves. Making it harder to forgive. When we’ve done things that we later tend to regret, we’re so hard on ourselves sometimes that we identify too with our past mistakes. That doesn’t do anything for your emotional well-being. In order to properly tend to our emotions, we must be in tune with them.

You are no longer that person

The older we get, the more we find ourselves reflecting on our past. Why did I let that happen? Or…I could have done that differently. Well, that’s a part of the healing and growing journey. The key is to not identify your past self but with your present, and future self.

The new and improved you has learned from your mistakes. So it’s important to not associate yourself with the wrongdoings the old you were tangled up in. The number one indicator you’ve learned from your mistakes is the feeling of regret. When we regret something we’ve done, we know we will never do it again.

For the sake of moving on

Letting go and forgiving the past improves your self-image. People tend to believe that forgiveness means that what happened was okay, which is not the case. The point of forgiveness is to heal and move on for your own good. Harboring on past mistakes, won’t erase them. Forgiveness helps you to finally be at peace with them.

You can’t control the past

It would help if you stopped beating yourself up over something that happened in the past. Instead, control your future. Control what you can and let go of what you can’t. Whatever happened in the past has already happened. You have no control over that. The only thing you can control is everything else moving forward.

From shame to self-love

How you see yourself can reflect how other people see you. If you’re feeling shameful, you’ll believe you deserve less than you deserve, which is the opposite of self-love. It’s important to turn that self-hate into self-love. Know that regardless of whatever you’ve done in the past, you are more than deserving.

The self-love journey is a life-changing process. Always replace negative thoughts with positive ones.

Seek professional help

If you’re having a hard time, it’s always best to talk to someone. Seeking professional help can help you take the necessary steps to healing and moving on from self-shame. If you’re not able to seek professional help, confide in your close circle of trusted friends and family. Remember, support from others is the backbone of healing.