Forgive yourself, you are a human

Forgive yourself, you are a human

“To err is human, to forgive divine.” You might as well insert the word “yourself” into this all-so-true observation about being human.

Let’s face it. We are human, and to be human means you’re going to make errors, at least some of the time. You’re going to make plenty of mistakes, mess up from time to time, lose your way, forget things, lose your temper, say things you shouldn’t have, and all the rest.

I’ve never understood why this simple fact of life – our tendency to make mistakes – is so surprising or disappointing to people.

To me, one of the saddest mistakes we make is a lack of forgiveness, especially to ourselves. We constantly remind ourselves of our flaws and previous mistakes. We anticipate future mistakes. We’re highly critical of ourselves, frequently disappointed, and ruthless in our self-judgment. We blame ourselves, and often we’re our own worst enemy.

It seems to me that to be unforgiving of yourself is foolish and ridiculous. Most of us are doing the best that we can – really. But we’re not perfect. The truth is, we’re a work-in-progress.

We should learn from our mistakes and from stumbling and keep moving ahead in life.