Mistakes: Should We Forgive Ourselves?

Life never fails to provide me with a topic. Every day brings something asking for attention. Today's focus is on mistakes, or rather our habitual way of labeling a variety of our experiences.

Let's start by clearing our rational mind of any attempts to analyze what we are going to do.

What if I offer you a game of noticing how many times during one day you blame yourself of doing something wrong, making a mistake, saying something rather stupid, and not being happy with yourself because of one or another of your actions, or the lack of those actions? Imagine that you have a computer registering all those instances, and take a look at the amount of observations at the end of the day. Is not it astonishing?

With all the care that we receive from the moment we enter this world, we are taught by the family, teachers, and authorities to seek our faults. We succeed. By default, we make mistakes. By default, we make a lot of them, thus creating ever-growing colonies of guilt. We also learn to hide them well, and hidden away from the light of consciousness they mutate into creepy fears.

We fear our mistakes will cause harm to our well-being. Even worse, they can cause harm to our loved ones. Why not? We had instances...

Honestly, it is hard to write about guilt. I have to constantly remind myself to breathe. But it is only me, no worries. I am sure you can talk about it with ease. :)

The key is once again Love based Self Respect. You do not make mistakes - you haven't made any in your life. Life is but an experience. It has many aspects, it consists of choices, and it meant to be about Joy. Do you get the picture?

You cannot do anything wrong. Stop talking about it, thinking about it, fearing it. How? By starting to respect yourself, enjoy yourself, and love yourself unconditionally.

August 20, 2009
Cape Cod