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
@hopedreamlove
♡ Today I will forgive myself for acting out when I feel scared or trapped.
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel better, lighter.
♡ I deserve forgiveness because everyone messes up and that's ok if you learn from it and you didn't intend to hurt someone else.
@akay06
Hello! I am so glad to hear that now that you have forgiven yourself, you are feeling better and lighter. I really love what you said about learning from messing up, I feel that is super important, and can allow you to grow. Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope you can continue to forgive and embrace your wonderful self. Have a lovely day! ♡
@hopedreamlove
Now finish these statements:
♡ Today I will forgive myself for - Not being a perfect person because no one is perfect.
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel - I feel better and relieved and know I am not always gonna be who everyone wants me to be so just be me. 
♡ I deserve forgiveness because- I am Human and Flawed and I have emotions .. I am a believer in my Faith and The Lord can forgive me than i am good and I can forgive others just know to love them from a distances and pray for them .
Peace and Love , Tye
Day 16 of Self Esteem challange and loving it !! 4 more days left !!!
@Tyedyedbutterfly65 OOPS LOL This is the 18th lol 12 days not 18 hahaha ... so 8 more days left of Esteem Challenge left !!
cool !!!
So sorry
Tye
@Tyedyedbutterfly65 This is the 16 th lol omgosh I seriously need a nap !!!
@Tyedyedbutterfly65
Hi! It can be super difficult when we feel the pressure to be perfect. I'm so glad to hear that you feel better and relieved now that you have forgiven yourself. That is an excellent point, we might not always be able to be who everyone wants us to be, so we can just be ourselves. I also love your statement "I am human and flawed and I have emotions." ♡ Thank you so much for participating, and I hope that you are able to continue forgiving yourself in the future, and continuing to be yourself. Have a lovely day!
p.s: I hope you got to take a nice nap 
@hopedreamlove Thank you so much it means so much to me that people do reply to my post even tho i messed up lol... but i am floawed No nap lol
♡ Today I will forgive myself for not having everything figured out but being grateful for the progress I have made.
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel lighter and like nothing can hold me down.
♡ I deserve forgiveness because everyone deserves a second chance
@CheeryMango
Hello hello hello! It is awesome to hear that you have forgiven yourself for not having everything figured out, and that you are feeling much lighter and like nothing can hold you down. I really like how you also looked at a positive: a all the progress that you have made. It can feel amazing seeing progress. I totally agree with you, everyone deserves a second chance. Thank you so much for participating! I hope you are able to continue to forgive yourself in the future, and feel lighter. Have a wonderful day! ♡
@hopedreamlove
♡ Today I will forgive myself for my past mistakes
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel lighter
♡ I deserve forgiveness because everyone makes mistakes, theres really no right or wrong way to do this whole life thing learning from our mistakes is what's important at the end of the day.
@incredibleWatermelon1029
Hihi! It is wonderful to hear that you are feeling lighter now. Past mistakes can definitely take a toll on us, and make us feel so much weight. Wow, I absolutely love this, and I think I am going to save this as a quote because it super inspiring. "theres really no right or wrong way to do this whole life thing learning from our mistakes is what's important at the end of the day." Thank you so much for participating! I hope you are able to continue forgiving yourself and learn from your mistakes throughout the ups and downs of life. Have an amazing day! ♡
Today I will forgive myself for ___taking the decisions in the past that have led me to this moment in my life.
Now that I have forgiven myself I feel ___ like a weight lifted off of my shoulder
I deserve forgiveness because __ I too am human, and I can make mistakes, but I can also move on from it.
@plumBeechwood7549
Hey hey! It is wonderful to hear that it feels like a weight has lifted off your shoulder, that can be a huge relief! Definitely, you are human, and humans make mistakes, and that is okay. I hope you can continue to forgive yourself in the future, and live the life you want. Have a lovely day! ♡
@hopedreamlove
Thank you! Hope you have a good day too!
@hopedreamlove
Today I forgive myself for not trying hard enough.
Now that I have forgiven myself, I feel good and confident for the next day.
I deserve forgiveness because we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves. :)
@VerseArt
Hello hello hello! I am so glad that you are feeling good and confident for the next day. I completely agree, we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves. Thank you so much for participating, and I hope that you can continue to forgive yourself, not be too hard on yourself, and be kind to yourself. Have a wonderful day ♡
Thank you so much @hopedreamlove for this lovely thought. I hope the same as well :)
♡ Today I will forgive myself for ___ not being 100% all of the time
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel ___ acceptance of myself!
♡ I deserve forgiveness because ___ it is unrealistic to expect 100% all of the time, we have our ups and downs! Energy and motivation are finite unless recharged!
@ToniJane
Hi Toni! I can relate to the thought that we have to be 100 percent at times, and the disappointment and other emotions when we can't. It is wonderful to hear that you chose to forgave yourself, and are accepting yourself! Yessss, I love your response to the last question, we do all have our ups and downs, and it's simply not possible to be at our 100 percent all the time, and that's more than okay. I hope you are able to continue to forgive yourself, and accept yourself. Thank you so much for participating, have a fantastic day ♡
@hopedreamlove
Now finish these statements:
♡ Today I will forgive myself for closing myself to all relationships
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel, a little lighter but nothing that different
♡ I deserve forgiveness because well my intentions were not bad, i was just scared at the moment
@potatoxcrispztrish
Relationships can be super difficult, and scary at times. Like you said, your intentions weren't bad. I am glad that forgiving yourself has made you feel a bit lighter, and I hope that you are able to continue to forgive yourself in the future, and feel even lighter and more better. Thank you so much for participating, and sharing. Have a lovely day ♡
@hopedreamlove
1. ♡ Today I will forgive myself for ___, something only I know.
2. ♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel ___, the same, unfortunaately
3. ♡ I deserve forgiveness because ___, I was a child and mentally ill without any support.
@purpleTree4652
Hello! *hugs if you want some* I'm sorry to hear that you still feel the same after forgiving yourself. Just simply forgiving yourself is a huge step, I'm proud of you, and I hope that you are able to feel proud of yourself as well. Thank you for participating, and I hope one day you can find the self-acceptance and love you deserve. Have a lovely day ♡
@hopedreamlove
♡ Today I will forgive myself for sometimes being reckless while driving.
♡ Now that I have forgiven myself I feel like I can move on and start over.
♡ I deserve forgiveness because everyone makes mistakes and nothing serious happened.
@Ylbirda
Hihi! It is wonderful to hear that now you have forgiven yourself you are able to move on and start over. I'm glad that nothing serious happened. You are absolutely right, everyone makes mistakes, and they can be an excellent opportunity to learn and grow. I hope you are able to continue to forgive yourself in the future for anything that might come up. Thank you for sharing! Have an amazing day!