Human beings are complicated. There is no yardstick to measure if someone is fundamentally good or bad. You simply can’t weigh someone’s character in the entirety of good or bad because we are made of both good and bad in equal parts. However, it is on us to pick the side and stick to it by making sure that our actions don’t hurt anyone.

However, no matter how hard you try, sometimes, you end up doing things that may hurt your loved ones or people around you, no matter if you intended to hurt them or not in the first place. The worst part about it is that you don’t know about what you’ve done until it’s too late and the damage has been done.

If you’ve committed a crime, then you can have catharsis by facing the law for what you’ve done and be content with yourself. You can even hire a good lawyer like a Los Criminal Lawyer to defend yourself if you feel like it, but when it comes to hurting someone, it becomes very difficult to forgive yourself.

You constantly live in the guilt of hurting your loved one, and it becomes too difficult to forgive yourself even if your loved ones forgive you. You feel stuck in time and moving on from it feels like you are one more wrong thing.

If you’ve hurt any of your loved ones knowingly or unknowingly, then you can probably relate to all the things I just said. But, just because you can relate, it doesn’t mean that you are doing the right thing. Being in constant pain of guilt and not moving on from your mistakes is not wise, and it can affect your growth as a person, and you may never be able to become a better person.

Therefore, if you want to amend your mistakes and make sure that you become a better person, then you have to forgive yourself and move on in your life. No one is saying that it is going to be easy, but it is something that you’ll have to do to make sure that you don’t repeat the mistake of your past and become a better person.

In this blog, I am going to narrow down some of the very helpful tips that’ll help you in forgiving yourself and moving on with your life.

So, without any further ado, here’s everything you need to know about it.

Here you go:

Focus on Your Emotions and Your Reactions

You can’t start the process of forgiving yourself right after the realization that you have done something wrong. It takes a lot of time to process your emotions and reactions about what you’ve done. Therefore, if you want to make sure that you forgive yourself in order to be a better person, you have to sit down and process all your emotions and the reactions that you want to show or the action that you want to take. Take all the time you need, but make sure when you are done, you know for a fact how you are feeling about what you’ve done.

Acknowledge Your Mistakes Out Loud – Don’t Conceal

Once you have come to the realization that you may have done something wrong that may have caused a lot of pain to you, then the next step is admitting your mistake. So, if you’ve done anything wrong to anybody, then you have to admit your mistake openly. Don’t think about your reputation at that time. If you want to forgive yourself and get out of the guilt for good, then you have to make sure that you admit your mistakes out loud. It’ll help you to get the much-needed catharsis, and the person you’ve wronged will have the closure that they deserve.

Focus on Learning from Your Mistake

When you are struck by the immense burden of guilt, it becomes very difficult to focus on the bright side of things. But, this is exactly what you need to do. Gather all the courage that you have and invest it in taking a lesson from your mistakes.

No doubt that it won’t change what you’ve done, but it is a first step of trying to be a better person and making sure that you don’t repeat the mistakes of your past.

Talk to the Person You May Have Hurt

The next most important thing that you need to do is to make sure that you are talking to the person you’ve hurt. Talk to them about how you are feeling over what you have done. Tell them you are sorry and show them with your actions that you’ve changed.

However, they may not forgive you that easily, and you have to respect their choice because you were never in their shoe, and you can never imagine what they’ve gone through.

Take Time to Process Your Thoughts and Feelings

When you are in any kind of guilt, you tend to think about only the negative things. However, it is something that you need to change. You need to process your thoughts and feelings and make sure that you bring a positive conclusion out of them.

It is important if you want to move on with your life and make sure that you come out of your guilt as a better and more compassionate person.

Talk to Yourself – Get Answers, Make Promises

The most important part of forgiving yourself is to talk to yourself. You have to tell yourself that what you’ve done was wrong. Ask yourself as many questions as you want but make sure whatever the answer is, it shouldn’t make you hurt yourself.

You need to remember that you are trying to move on by forgiving yourself, and you are doing this because you want to become a better person. So, make sure that you don’t push back yourself into the darkness that made you do all those horrible things that you have done.

Take Professional Help if Needed

If you think you can get out of your guilt all on your own, then that’s great. But, if it is not helping and you are feeling hopeless after all, then you need to get professional help. Talk to a therapist and make sure that you are a hundred percent honest with them and not hiding anything from them.

It may not help you to come out of guilt all of a sudden, but for starters, it is something that you really need.

Put Negativity on Hold for a While

Having negative thoughts and not being able to think about anything positive is only natural. There is nothing wrong with thinking like this, but you’ve made sure that your negativity is not coming in your way to becoming a better person.

Therefore, it is important that you put all your negative thoughts aside and focus only on your growth as a person. It is important if you want to make sure that you move on in your life and become a better person.

Stop Playing the Tape Over and Over Again

One of the most important things that you need to do if you want to forgive yourself and move on in life is to make sure that you don’t keep playing the incident in your head over and over again. It is not going to do any good for anyone. Therefore, you need to put a pause on the reverse film that you are constantly playing in your head.

It is important because if you let yourself stuck in your head, then it means that you are losing your opportunity to become a better person, and this way, not only are you punishing yourself, but also the person who is hurt because of you.

Know what you Want Now

Once you’ve realized that you have done something wrong, it’s time to think of the way forward. It means that you have to think about what you want now. Think of what will put your mind at ease and how you can make things a little better for the people who’ve hurt in the past.

When you reach a conclusion, make sure that you analyze all its aspects and start acting upon it. Once you are able to ensure that you have done everything in your power to make things right, it’s time to finally forgive yourself and move on with your life.

Show as Much Kindness and Compassion as You Can

Once you are finally able to forgive yourself, it is time to ensure that you are showing as much kindness and compassion to the people around you as you can. It is important because your inner change should also reflect on your behavior. Otherwise, you’ll fall into the guilt trap once again, and it means that all the effort and energy that you invested in being a better person are wasted.

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Author, Freelance writer