Stop being so mean to yourself OR How to turn a big mistake into self-forgiveness.

weekly affirmation Sep 15, 2016

Today I choose to forgive myself.

I had a rough morning yesterday. I had some disappointing news that really shook me. Ok, it wasn’t news as much as I made a major mistake.
 
I was able to get back on course with some meditation, some breathing and a good conversation with my sister and messaging with a friend. I was still a little “off” and feeling rattled. Though I was recovering, I was engaging in some pretty negative self-talk.
 
Negative self talk is something most of us have pop up from time to time. When it does pop up, it is never good. It’s all too easy to go from feeling badly about something we have done to feeling badly about who we are. Brene’ Brown says this is the difference between shame and guilt. Guilt focuses on a behavior while shame focuses on our worth.
 
I was right in the middle of a major shame storm regarding a financial decision. I was imagining the worst possible scenario. I was berating myself. And then I heard my inner dialogue. Woah. I can be really mean to myself. Can you relate? I needed an immediate change in my thinking. So I went to one of my go-to spiritual tools: self-forgiveness.
 

Why self-forgiveness is so effective and so important 

When we are in the midst of negative self-talk, it is likely we might try to discharge some of that negativity to someone undeserving. Maybe you might yell at your kid, pick a fight with your spouse, or get impatient with your dog. By being kinder to ourselves, we empower ourselves to be kinder to others.

Self-forgiveness is a beautiful antidote to negative self-talk. Simply by choosing to forgive yourself, the universe shifts. You may not feel forgiveness in that moment, but by being willing to forgive yourself the process has begun. Every time you begin to go down the rabbit hole of negative self-talk, counteract it with a willingness to offer yourself forgiveness. You will begin to feel lighter and more positive. You may even experience hope or self love!

My mistake isn’t fixed yet. But I trust that it will be soon now that I’m not beating myself up. You probably realize almost all of my posts are taken from my own experiences. I focus on spiritual tools and meditation because I need them. By writing and teaching them, it actually helps me. So thank you for taking the time to read my posts. My hope is that you also get something valuable out of them. And if you feel like you would enjoy some concentrated study on these topics, I invite you to check out Empowered You, which is available online.

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All my love,

Brenda