Forgive Your Future Self
A profound piece of advice given to me by an inner voice with patience, kindness, wisdom and power.
It’s a shocking idea, but trust me.
Forgive your future self
I don’t remember if it came to me in a dream or as I drifted off to sleep, or even in an awake state, but these were the words.
Forgive your future self
Here, I unpack what that means and share my interpretation of this guidance so that it might help you.
How would you speak to a friend?
“Self-care” has been a popular concept in the last few years. We hear about the power of positive thinking and of speaking to yourself as if you were talking to a friend.
We’re told to forgive ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made in the recent and distant past, do the work and move on. (There are many methods for self-forgiveness, some more psychology-based, some more spiritual.)
Our inner gremlins lie and distort
Our minds are great at lying to us. Fear and insecurity creep in. We imagine the worst. We obsess. We want to hide. We medicate to dull the bad feelings.
Well, some of us anyway.
The self-forgiveness advice generally focuses on our present and past circumstances, though. Aside from recognizing all this and knowing that these cognitive distortions are possible, what can we do?
We can begin now. We can make self-forgiveness an ongoing process.
To err human
Forgive your future self
Out of nowhere, my inner guide reminded me that I will make more mistakes. It told me that the time to start forgiving those mistakes is now. If we acknowledge that we’re likely to mess up and that we have the tools to do so, it will be easier to overcome mistakes.
Mistakes happen. It’s how we deal with them, how swiftly and what we learn from them that matters.
An article called How to Forgive Yourself: 7 Techniques For Self Forgiveness on the Law of Attraction website points out,
When we don’t forgive ourselves and hold on to our guilt, we are not able to be the best version of ourselves as we have a constant worry and fear.
Imagine starting to be your best self now. You WILL make mistakes. Some of those mistakes will be (or feel like) minor “oops” situations, while some will feel dramatic. Your ego might catastrophize the case. You might experience consequences.
You will survive it. I promise.
Forgive your future self. Forgive your errors in judgment and your fuck ups, for the things you break and the people you hurt.
When we treat ourselves with kindness, we thrive. When we criticize ourselves, the negative energy perpetuates itself.
We have the power to choose.
Mistakes are valuable
Consider your mistakes an opportunity for positive change. Take responsibility for your actions. Even if you don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, consider what that reason might be.
IF everything happens for a reason, why am I in this situation? What is this here to teach me?”
You need mistakes for growth. Failure is a teacher. You need resiliency.
As I was guided to, I want you to forgive future you.
Dear future me,
I love you, and I forgive you for all the mistakes you’ve made and will make.
You’re awesome.
Signed,
Current me.
