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How to forgive yourself for cheating or lying?

308 Answers
Last Updated: 05/23/2022 at 6:47am
How to forgive yourself for cheating or lying?
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Lisa Groesz, PhD

Psychologist

With evidenced based therapies, we find the root of the problem together to implement solutions. We all face crises, transitions, or disorders at some time.

Top Rated Answers
DayCap1
January 18th, 2020 2:56pm
It may be important, ultimately, to accept what we had done, and not judge the totality of who we are for what we did. This is not to say that what we did was fine. This is to say that we are human and we do things that may not always be to our benefit, and that dwelling on this matter will not help us. It is important to learn the distinction between guilt and remorse - remorse is understanding what you did wrong, and trying to address it without an unreasonably long grieving time. Guilt has a prolonged negative feeling, and indicting ourselves for an unreasonably long time for whatever it is that we did.
Anonymous
January 5th, 2020 3:52pm
Start to love yourself to make it easier. It'll hurt for a while but better off figuring where you went wrong and love yourself. The other person in time will forgive you in time! If they don't you wasted time on them and are better off without them in your life. Sometimes we make a mistake and realized too late to do anything about it. It'll always work out for everyone. Some people think it'll never work and they have made the worst mistake but you may of done it out of revenge towards that person, or you made a mistake
Anonymous
December 5th, 2019 9:09am
Every day I make a promise to myself that I will do better. I will be a better person, I will learn from my mistakes, and I will not repeat them. These promises help me move forward in life and forgive my past self for mistakes that have been made. Some days are tough, and I feel guilty for things I have done, but I remind myself that I am a human who is allowed to make mistakes. As long as I grow from those mistakes and keep my self promises, I can move on and be a better person than I was before.
Anonymous
November 21st, 2019 11:00pm
Cheating and lying are choices. Often in life we regret or even cringe at our choices. We've all been there. At one point in your life you felt like it was okay so you did it and now you regret, this shows that you are willing to change and that you regret it. It's a great start, mistakes are mistakes and everybody does that what would be unforgivable is that if you never ever regret it. But now it's different are not the same person anymore. You have learned from your mistakes so don't be hard on yourself. Self acceptance is key here. Accept that you were once wrong and that you'll never do it again. You could try apologizing to the people it could help and hey if they aren't ready to accept it don't worry. You are doing what you have to do and only that matters. Take care :)
Anonymous
October 2nd, 2019 10:50pm
Understand that mistakes do happen, humans do make progress in life. Forgiving yourself is one of the most important things that you can do for yourself if you do not forgive yourself how are you going to be able to move on and learn from the fact you cheated or lied? Being honest with myself and figuring out what the true reason was for me lying and figure out if it was a valid reason and forgiving myself in order to forget in this situation. Thinking that what happen has happen and it is in the past and we need to move on from this to improve as an individual.
Daishy
September 14th, 2019 2:47pm
First acknowledging that you're sorry is a big step towards trying to forgive yourself. After accepting this, try and see reasons why such should not repeat itself. You can write it down and follow the step by step process. From my personal experience, though it wasn't easy, i first felt really sad about it and tried talking to the person. I checked on her daily just to make sure she held no grudge and i started practicing self love. Self love helped. If one really love themselves, hurting others would not be an option. So self love and acknowledgement really helped me a lot.
Goldfish171
August 30th, 2019 11:52pm
Understand that what you did was wrong and regretful. However, let yourself grow from there and learn from your mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes so don't feel alone. You know yourself best so you have to make the right choices, no one else can do it for you. Make sure you don't do it again because of all the negative things that it brings.
CaseyDianne
August 30th, 2019 3:59am
Disappointing your self throughout life is something that many deal with. Forgiving yourself may be harder than one may think. There may be things that we didn't mean to do, but we did. We must live in the "here and now" rather than the "then and there". This means we cannot live for how we wish things were, but rather for what things are in this moment. It is normal to make mistakes, and it's okay to admit that you were wrong. I also feel as though it's equally important to right your wrongs, and continue by forgiving yourself. Sometimes, a person themselves can be their worst critic, It's important to show yourself love, self care and concern when it comes to things like this. Forgiving yourself is a process, but it's an attainable process. Continue to work at self love everyday, and be willing to forgive yourself.
VctorSomm
August 29th, 2019 6:43pm
You forgive yourself once realise what you have done. Because if you dont forgive yourself would be hard to keep going, live your life and also helping someone else. Being honest with yourself is the key to build up your strength, confident and friendship. Of course is not easy to do it but step by step we can get so many things into the good way, just helping ourself been more honest, more confident, reliable. So the first step to forgive someone is starts with your own forgiveness and from that moment on, you have to be the one you want to be
MissLisa
August 22nd, 2019 8:52pm
We are all human beings and we all make mistakes from time to time. However it is important that we forgive ourselves to avoid it hanging over us and causing problems. Give yourself the compassion and forgiveness that you would give to someone else. If you can forgive others, then you can certainly forgive yourself also. You could also apologise to the person who you lied or cheated on as this may help you forgive yourself and gain closure. If you have learnt a lesson from your wrong doing then you should be able to move on knowing your a better person from learning from your mistake.
Anonymous
July 19th, 2019 4:59pm
You recognize what you did wrong and take responsibility for it, then you try to work on bettering yourself for you and your partner and slowly you may begin to forgive yourself. You can also dig into why you cheated or lied and if it’s a legitimate reason, maybe ending a relationship where you feel trapped is a good idea, I cannot give advice though and I truly would not like to break any relationships based on my own experiences. You are the only one that truly knows your situation and reflection can certainly help you find a verdict as well.
LotusBay
June 27th, 2019 7:29pm
The first step to forgiving yourself is to first recognize the consequences of your actions. Only after you have recognized the consequences of your actions, can you then take responsibility for them. Learn from the mistakes you have made. Remaining mad at one's self after you have already accepted responsibility for the wrongful act, is unhelpful. You can only truly learn from your mistake if you allow yourself to be forgiven. Holding a grudge against yourself stops you from truly learning from the experience, and makes you attempts to move on fruitless. Ultimately, if you wish to forgive yourself, you must remember the most important thing: You are only human and that means you are allowed to make mistakes.
bravePomegranate53
March 17th, 2019 2:23pm
To forgive yourself you have to accept that things like that happen. Maybe you went through a difficult time, and circumstances made you take your choices at the time. It doesn't mean you were right, or that you should do the same again. But beating up yourself in a long time doesn't make things better. Say sorry to the person you have hurt, and take learning from what you did and how you should act in another way in the future. Making a white lie is sometimes necessary, but it should not become a habit. To lie to harm others is never ok.
Ashes2Ashes1984
March 10th, 2019 4:58am
We all have done something that felt right at that specific time and sometime it was the right thing to do and other time it was the wrong thing to do. We need these experience to learn and growth from them. I have lied several times in my life because it felt like the right thing to avoid hurting the other person or getting into a more serious conversation that would not be useful in our relationship. The truth is that true forgiveness takes time and even more time with guilt. It is something that you have to be honest with yourself and express freely in order to grow from it. we learn from our mistakes. And lies are sometime a mistake that we have to learn from and deal with the effect of them. Often in any relationship (i don't mean solely one type) after the incident of lying more conversation will hopefully follow and things will be talk out.
wildflowerbee
February 20th, 2019 5:59pm
I think the best way to forgive yourself for cheating or lying is by considering the situation and your thoughts and your feelings at that time. When you do do that, you realise that you could have done things differently, right? But that is what you think NOW, that is what you think because of who you are now, and you will realise that overtime you have grown, that is why you are feeling the guilt and the remorse now. So give yourself credit for growing and coming to the point that you think that you should have done things differently and if now faced with the same situation you will.
ElectusGuardian
February 15th, 2019 2:00pm
Always understand that you are who you are today at this moment and not the person you were before. Remember to not repeat this action.. and be kind. You may have been afraid at that point in regards to something. It could be the fact that you're afraid of missing out, or afraid of not being able to be yourself in the process. Being kind to yourself is important. Everything that has happened to us is a journey towards a better self. Write a reflection on why you decided to do what you did. And then be aware of your feelings and how you can overcome it in the future. Remember to stay patient in the process.
Anonymous
February 7th, 2019 11:05pm
We as people make choices we do not always normally approve. You might regret a lie, but you have done it, there are no take-backs. Which can be frightening for some, but in order to forgive yourself you have to release that burden, growing from doing something wrong. You’ve done it, you’ve most likely learnt, and now it is the time to focus on good. What is worse, standing in the pouring rain of your tears from regret, or moving on as a person who learns from their errors? You are not a bad person for making a bad decision. Remember.
GiaMou
January 20th, 2019 8:11pm
We are only human, so it is not uncommon for the occasional cheat or lie. It is difficult to remind ourselves that we do not need to be perfect, we do not expect others to be perfect, so why is it that we strive for perfection in ourselves?, and cheating and lying can bring on feelings of guilt and imperfection. I think if we accept our imperfections and mistakes then we may learn to forgive ourselves, and in the future we will do better. We are all trying our best, so please do not be too hard on yourself.
PeacefulWatcher
December 27th, 2018 5:19am
I try very hard to live, and to treat others as I want them to be with me, so it is my goal to be as honest as possible. Being human, though, I am not perfect! If I do let a white lie slip, or happen to "lie by omission", the first thing I do to forgive myself is to admit that it happened, and that I am human. I then try to connect with the other person and own up to what I did. Figuring out the reason behind the lie is as important as being honest. Discovering a potential trap towards telling future false-hoods can prevent a whole lot of trouble! Finally, letting go of what happened and moving forward helps in healing both sides!
lucyy
December 26th, 2018 11:34pm
I think forgiving yourself is often based on acknowledging the reasons behind your choices. For example, if you cheated, why did you cheat? What were the underlying issues in yourself and the relationship? Everyone makes mistakes, and as horrible as it can be to hurt someone else, you need to work on your self-forgiveness in stages, especially if your actions have caused the loss of a relationship, be it friendship, family or romantic. You need to accept your wrongs, time to grieve and then time to work on your personal forgiveness. An important aspect of the latter is NOT TO WALLOW IN YOUR SADNESS. Get up, go out, join a gym, pick up a hobby, start working hard or talking to people you love. Make time for people who make you happy and maybe reconnect with an old friend. As bad as what you did was, you need to gain back self love and nothing does that more than achieving a goal that you made just for you. I hope this helps :)
FlintWolf
December 21st, 2018 11:25am
Accepting who you are and learning from your mistakes are both so important. We can never undo the consequences we've endured or will by being honest, the best thing to do is come clean with ourselves. You're worth every bit of happiness you can get out of life, if you've never hurt anyone and are only protecting yourself then you have nothing to feel guilty for. If something is for survival, it's necessary. We all have needs, instinct and desires that require fulfillment. It only matters that you are safe and that nobody gets physically hurt or emotionally triggered. Keep calm and just try to breathe.
Anonymous
December 5th, 2018 10:19am
We all are humans. We make mistakes. We are given a life but not a plan or path to deal with it its okay to make mistakes. "You are not your biggest mistake" Obviously, we cannot forget things easily but we can always move on the path. Life is a book. Don't stop because of one bad page. Forgive yourself and move on. If you can correct things then go ahead but if you can't, then letting go of is the only repentance. Take the chance and keep the lesson. Listen! Forgiving yourself is the sign of a strong mind and faith in lord.
deedee1909
November 27th, 2018 11:10pm
I strongly believe that the first and most important thing to do is set the record straight with whomever you have been dishonest with. I feel that it would be difficult to forgive yourself if the other party is completely unaware. In an ideal world they would forgive you and in turn you’d pardon yourself, but should it not play out in this way you can rest easy knowing you have done the right thing. Being honest and open moving forward is the best way to forgive yourself and earn back some good karma points! Best of luck :)
optimisticBlossom17
July 4th, 2018 4:39pm
First you should acknowledge the fact that you cheated or lied.Then,apologize to the person you lied to or cheated on.Finally,keep repeating to yourself in your head that you forgive yourself and that you will avoid cheating/lying again.
Anonymous
June 29th, 2018 10:02pm
Only you yourself can help you in this one. cheating or lying is definitely something that everyone does multiple times in their life, you yourself have to take time and eventually forgive yourself.
energizingBlanket44
June 29th, 2018 11:55pm
The deed was done. Something you have to let go👍 The longer it linger on’s to you, the harder it will become. Extract the feeling from deep inside your heart and throw further than you could ever imagine😜
LucieG
July 1st, 2018 10:16pm
We all make mistakes, its how we grow and learn at any age, be kind to yourself, being truthful about what has happened is always the best option
Anonymous
July 4th, 2018 3:16am
We are all learning, we are all trying to experience this life and do the best we can. You are worth it and you are not the sum of your mistakes you are a wonderful and complex creature trying to navigate an already difficult life.
Anonymous
July 8th, 2018 12:40pm
By coming to terms with the fact that you did it because once one comes to terms with it they can begin the road to forgiveness.
Anonymous
July 15th, 2018 7:38pm
I do anything else nicely or helping people or animal, cleaning the house, talk to people nicely, smile to people. Yeah doing something good. Or I just tell my self why I did that (cheating or lying), tell my self I was wrong, feel regret, and at the same time I have to apologize to my self. There is one part of my heart that always said ‘forgive me. Forgive me’ when I did something wrong. And then I’ll said, ‘I forgive you’. I know it sounds ridiculous but that what’s actually happen.