The Importance of Self-Forgiveness
I have been on a journey over the past few years, one that has exponentially increased my self-worth, my self-value, and my confidence. Anyone who has been on a similar path probably knows, however, that this journey has an ebb and a flow to it, and lately I've been battling my perfectionism—the hyper-critical voice I learned to internalize growing up —at war with myself again, it seems.
I know what it means to forgive myself, having learned about it in theory countless times and occasionally attempted to practice it, but the practice never lasts very long. Something happened yesterday that finally hit me, and I finally understood what it is, how immensely valuable it is, and the freedom it brings. I'll quote the source directly here, as I was watching Chloe’s latest YouTube video about self-esteem:
"Self-forgiveness is a huge secret ingredient when it comes to the 'how' of increasing your self-worth and your self-esteem because a lot of women allow perfect strangers or people who don’t matter to guilt them and to condemn them for their mistakes and their poor choices, to judge them for being human and imperfect, to wag and point their finger at them.
And because of these outside critical voices and the harsh judgment that comes with them, many women don’t know the invaluable skill of learning how to forgive themselves. And when women don’t know how to practice self-forgiveness on a daily basis, they are prone to beat themselves up and not be kind to themselves, and they are prone to abuse themselves, but with guilt.
But guilt and unforgiveness are the poisonous toxins that truly compromise a woman's ability to have high esteem and worth.”
Since hearing these words, I have practiced shifting the condemning voice in my head, forgiving myself for my humanity, for my innocence, for my imperfection. I have nurtured my inner child with love and not with punishment, abuse, guilt, and shame. This small shift in mindset has resurrected my confidence today, and I encourage anyone experiencing a similar narrative to try the same.
This piece was originally featured in a October 18, 2019 post on Instagram.
