52 Ways to Joy - Forgive Yourself

I spend a lot of time beating myself up over things I didn't do, situations I've handled wrong, things I've said and things I've done.

I've realized that rehashing past mistakes and failures do nothing but bring down the present moment, it taints the mood with it's dark presence.

Today I woke up with the intention of moving forward, not backward. I KNOW in order to reach my goals and my dreams I have to look ahead - my dreams and goals certainly aren't behind me.

Every day we change, we learn from past mistakes, our hearts heal from past hurts...everything that happened in the past makes us who we are, both the good and the bad. Yes, we have to deal with that and make peace with it. But we have to forgive others as well as ourselves to cut those burdens loose. We can't let them strangle our future.

The first step toward being at peace with ourselves is to be a little more forgiving of our own faults. Treat yourself the way you treat your best friend, give second chances to yourself - because you deserve it!

We can't expect to find joy unless we let go of some of the baggage we travel with everyday - that means putting the past where it belongs and moving forward each and every day toward something better.

It's time to forgive yourself.

Smile.

Move on!

Today I'm going to to forgive myself for the time I wasted yesterday playing Candy Crush - yes, the time I could have spent cleaning the house or working on the next chapter of my book - but time I needed to recharge my batteries.

What will you forgive yourself for today?