Forgiving yourself can be one of the hardest things for human beings to do. In fact, some people don’t realize that they have put this pressure on themselves.

Everyone is on a different journey, and through each journey, there are bumps along the road. The ability to let go of hurt, pain and resentment seems almost impossible for people when they’re experiencing these emotions. We try so hard to live up to the expectation of having to be perfect, so we put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we fail or make a mistake.

Let’s get to the root of what forgiveness really means and how we achieve that.

In a nutshell, forgiveness is forgetting and moving on from the situation. The idea that you can forgive but not forget is false. If we continue to remember how someone hurt us, we will continue to bring it up whenever they wrong us or irritate us in any way. Once the hurt is dissolved, the memory starts to dissolve, too. If you don’t forget the mistake that you made, you will continue to self-loathe or be quick to criticize yourself on the smallest things. To do this, you have to take responsibility for your actions AND accept that this happened and it’s done. It is all in the past.

The more you dwell on something in the past that you cannot change, the more you make it your present and your future. If you wronged someone, own up to it and apologize. This is for you to grow, whether or not you are getting them back. Your job is to not make every human being love you.

Your job is to become more self-aware and use that awareness to better yourself.

Now, whenever the feelings of guilt or resentment come up, sit with it. Resisting your feelings makes them persist. So take a seat, and let the feeling pass. By doing this, you will give yourself permission to digest what happened, accept it and let it go. This is your time to feel to heal and to also reflect as to how and why you feel a certain way. Ask yourself “Do I want to continue to feel this way?” and “what is a better way to look at the situation?”

Here are some ways to look at the situation:

Every mistake is a learning experience
Perfection means stagnation. Growth stops. Imperfection means more growth.
This is NOT serving me. So what would serve me?
Bringing myself down does not lift me or others up

This is also a perfect time to practice self-compassion and self-love. You are so focused on how you hate a number of things about yourself and the things you failed at.

Ask yourself

What am I good at?
What have I succeeded at?

If you can’t find the answers to these questions, now is your time to shine. Now is your time to set clear goals while also practicing self-compassion. Be more gentle with yourself. If you continue to punish yourself, you will continue to be stuck in this very moment. It is time for a change. It is your choice to make that decision now. You can do better, so start doing better.

Here are three ways to practice self-compassion:

1. Be Your Own BFF – Write down how you would respond to a friend who feels down or guilty, and give that friend advice. Use what you wrote to read it to yourself daily. By treating yourself the way you treat a friend, you form a healthier relationship with yourself which is the most important relationship in the world.
2. Change Your Inner Critic – Monitor your self-talk to recognise when you’re being self-critical. From there you can dissolve the criticism by giving yourself permission to switch these thoughts to self-compassionate ones.
3. Journal & Mindfulness – Write down the inner critic voice you hear to understand the root of this self-talk. Use this as an opportunity to practice mindfulness to let go of the feelings of shame and guilt that come up from journaling. Journaling is a great way to track your progress and to stay on top of your journey.

How are you going to practice self-forgiveness today?