How To Know When It’s Time to Let Go of the Past and Forgive Yourself

Recently, we published a blog article about the importance of forgiveness. It features how important it is to forgive others so that you can move on. We also touch on the fact that you too are included in this mix of people that need to be forgiven. What we did not mention, however, is how much harder it can be to forgive yourself than it is to forgive others. Why is this the case? Many times we tend to be much harder on ourselves than we are on others. As a result, we have a tendency to prolong self-punishment.

If you are the type of person that will hold grudges against yourself and creates punishments for yourself as a result, this could be creating more issues in your life than you realize. So how can you tell if this is you?

Here are three ways to know when it is time to let go of the past and forgive yourself:

When you are constantly blaming others for your problems

When you are constantly shifting the blame onto others, it most likely means that you are avoiding the real person who is to blame: you. Not all the time, but very often this is because you are unable to look at your own faults. Because on some level, you perceive those faults as unforgivable. It’s always easier to blame someone else than it is to forgive yourself.

When you seem to always be angry at the world

9 times out of 10, when you spend most of your time being angry with the world, it is a result of being angry with yourself.  When we cannot move on from a certain state of existence, we become very angry about everything else around us. If this is you, it may be time for you to take a look at yourself and decide what it is that you did to make yourself so angry with yourself.

When you hate the person you’ve become

This category might seem a little bit harsh, however, most people at some point in their life will come to the realization that they are not who they want or desire to be. When this happens, it’s important to recognize that you may have made some poor decisions on the way to get to where you are. When this happens, you know that it’s time to forgive yourself and move on. At the same time, you have to learn self-acceptance. You have to realize that none of us are 100% the people that we seek to be because there’s a journey involved to get us where we want to go.

At the end of the day, we must all realize that no one is perfect. In fact, we are far from perfect beings. Everybody makes mistakes. There will be moments in your life where you hurt others or yourself. Sadly, time can never be turned back.  We must suffice in moving forward and changing the future for the better. This also means we must change ourselves for the better too. The only way that this is truly possible is through the power of self-forgiveness.

Related Articles: How Forgiveness Can Change Your Life and Make You a Stronger Person

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