Forgiveness & Self-Esteem
Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself -Maya Angelou
Forgiveness is often defined as a deliberate decision to release feelings of anger, resentment, and retribution to someone who may have harmed you. While it can be very difficult to forgive someone else, it can be even more challenging to forgive yourself. However, self-forgiveness can be extremely beneficial in healing and can feel extremely freeing.
Steps one can take to achieve self-forgiveness:
♡ Accept your situation. It can be helpful to accept who you are and where you are at this moment. Accept life as it is, not how it should be. ♡
♡ Understand what happened and why you are here. What caused you to make the choice(s) you did? What were you trying to meet, given the frame of reference you had at that time? Understanding your frame of reference can make it clear that you were simply doing your best you knew how to do at that time. ♡
♡ Learn from your experience. How did your experience shape you into the person you are today? What wisdom did you learn? You might not be able to go back and change the past, but now you have the opportunity to learn and grow for the future. ♡
♡ Forgive your past self. By saying I forgive you to yourself, you can begin to heal. ♡
Now finish these statements:
♡ Today I will forgive myself for ___
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel ___
♡ I deserve forgiveness because ___
Thank you so much for participating today in day twelve of our self-esteem challenge. Feel free to check out the other self-esteem posts here. We hope that our forum discussion and exercise have been a positive experience, and you are leaving feeling freer and relaxed. Have a lovely day! 
Sources: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindful-anger/202007/healing-shame-5-steps-self-forgiveness https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindful-anger/202006/healing-guilt-7-steps-self-forgiveness
@Tazzie
Today I will forgive myself for making a mistake.
Now that I have forgiven myself I feel less stupid.
I deserve forgiveness because it is normal to make mistakes
@Harmony8682
Hi there! Making mistakes can feel awful, and can make us feel a number of emotions. I am so glad to hear that you have forgiven yourself, and feel less stupid. Yes exactly, it's normal to make mistakes, after all we are just human. A quote I love about mistakes is "Mistakes are proof that you are trying." Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day! ♡
@hopedreamlove
♡ Today I will forgive myself for not reaching my own expectations
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel relieved, ready to move on
♡ I deserve forgiveness because I don't have to be hard on myself
@DreamTouch
Hi Dream, it's nice to see you! When we don't reach our own expectations we out on ourself, it can feel very disappointing, and many other emotions. One thing I have learned about that though is that we have the option of adjusting the expectations we put on ourself. I am so glad to hear that you have forgiven yourself, and now are feeling relieved and ready to move on. Wishing you the best with everything, I hope you can reach everything you want to. Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day! ♡
@hopedreamlove
♡ Today I will forgive myself for ___
...forgetting to put my dishes in the dishwasher and feeling like I need to do more around the house when I'm supposed to be working.
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel ___
...content
♡ I deserve forgiveness because ___
... I am learning to notice things like that still. Not perfect and that's ok. Just have to keep making the effort.
@WonderfulRainbows286 Everyone needs a day to just relax and have an off day. So it's okay that you left the dishes dirty. Leaving those dishes there is not harming anyone.
I have let myself go
i forgive my self for giving me a break
i will now do work and dedicate time!
