Is your past haunting you? Forgive yourself by applying this one wisdom to your life. It will change the way you look at mistakes.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Do you struggle with things that have happened in the past?
Are you continuously trying to forget the memories attached to certain traumatic experiences?
Do you blame yourself for certain aspects of those experiences?
Time to let yourself off the hook and forgive yourself! In this blog, I’ll share one wisdom with you, that helped me tremendously to accept my past mistakes and move on. Learn to forgive yourself and live a happier life with this amazing wisdom.
Does Your Past Cause You Anxiety?
If you are anything like me, you suffer from anxiety on a regular basis. Highly sensitive people and empaths have a tendency to suffer from anxiety more frequently. As a result, the most unproductive and destructive thoughts enter our minds on a regular basis. This can result in negative self-talk and low self-esteem.
When I experienced that unresolved issues from the past continuously entered my mind, I found it to be a major trigger for my anxiety. Oftentimes, I found myself going to bed, dwelling about past mistakes for hours. Although I could not change anything that I had done or allowed, I would beat myself up for it over and over again.
Why This Is Destructive
Think about it. You have gone through something traumatic and feel incredibly bad for putting yourself in that situation. Then, you dig up that experience over and over again, blaming yourself for what happened to you. Why are you so hard on yourself?
I know how tough it is to not do this anymore, as I have been guilty of it for a long time too. However, I figured that by dwelling on the past, I would punish myself repeatedly, even years after the incident. As if the experience itself wasn’t bad enough already?
Therefore, I knew that I had to find a way to learn about forgiveness towards oneself. In this discovery process, I found one wisdom that helped me tremendously to let go of the past and move on.
So, are you ready to forgive yourself for past mistakes? Apply this mindset to your life:
The One Wisdom To Learn To Forgive Yourself
When you know better, do better. -Maya Angelou
It is such a simple sentence, yet so powerful. I came across this wisdom in one of Oprah’s podcasts. Here, she talks about how she learned this wisdom from Maya Angelou.
So, how does this wisdom relate to learning to forgive yourself? It is simple: When you know better, you do better.
Every mistake in life that we make, is there to teach us a lesson. This lesson helps us to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Accordingly, we do better. We know better, so we do better.
How To Forgive Yourself With This Wisdom
I can imagine that you struggle with applying this to your past, so let me give you an example:
For many years, I have been blaming myself for having weak boundaries. I was a true pushover and said yes to many things while my heart and body said no. As a result, I often dwelled in the past, blaming myself for having no self-respect and letting myself down. Whenever I had the chance to dwell in the past, I did and it became a major anxiety trigger.
However, Maya Angelou’s wisdom has helped me to embrace the past situations. In fact, they have been learning moments for me, so that I can do better. Moreover, I actually started feeling grateful for them, rather than bashing these experiences. As a result of these experiences, I am stronger than ever and I know that I will become better at not being a pushover anymore. I know better, so I do better.
Apply It To Your Own Situations
Now that you are aware of this wisdom, try to apply it to your past. Write down every situation that you are struggling with regularly.
Once you have done that, it is time to evaluate what you learned from each situation. How has the knowledge from those moments enhanced your character?
By being aware of the positive learning aspects from these experiences, you can look at them from the perspective of a survivor, rather than a victim.
You survived these situations, came stronger out of them and learned from them. You know better, so you do better now.
Ready To Forgive Yourself?
Whenever you feel anxious or upset about your past and its negative experiences, remember this wisdom and the things you learned from the experiences.
You know that through these experiences, you are more aware of warning signs in the future. When you encounter a similar situation, you won’t go blind into it, because you know better. The survivor in you protects you!
So, are you ready to forgive yourself? Apply this wisdom and see how your anxiety decreases!
If you’d like to learn more about this wisdom, watch Oprah’s explanation below:
