How to Forgive Yourself. Overcome Guilt and Shame with The Four Steps to Forgiveness
Channel: William Fergus Martin
Date: 2018-07-15

How to forgive yourself in four simple steps: The Four Steps to Forgiveness. It helps to know that forgiving yourself is one of the most generous and unselfish things you can do. Why is that? When you forgive yourself you allow yourself to have more of the good things in life so you have more to give and to share with others. 

Forgiving yourself not only frees you from the past; it also frees those around you from being affected by you living out the pain of your past.


How to Forgive Yourself with the Four Steps to Forgiveness
Step 1. Write down what you want to forgive yourself for.
Write: I want to forgive myself for (pick one thing for now).

Step 2. Write a list of your current feelings about the situation. 
Write: I feel worried, guilty, ashamed,... etc.

Step 3A. Write a list of the benefits you will get from forgiving yourself. 
Write: happiness, freedom, peace of mind, etc.
Step 3B:  Write a list of the benefits other people will get from you forgiving yourself. 
Write: I will be; more enjoyable for them to be around, more considerate, more compassionate, more forgiving. 


Step 4: Write a Forgiveness Affirmation based on the benefits you listed in Step 3A:
I forgive myself and I accept the benefits of happiness, freedom, peace of mind which forgiveness brings.
Say this affirmation to yourself slowly at least 3 times. Then go through all the steps again, making any changes you want to what you wrote earlier. Keep going until you feel clear.

Lack of self forgiveness can lead to substance abuse, depression, eating disorders, mental health problems and a variety of types of self harm, self mutilation and self abuse. It can contribute to self blame and self judgment and lead to anxiety and stress.

If you are wondering, “How do i forgive myself?” or “How do I stop hurting myself” this video is for you 

Forgiving yourself will allow you to overcome emotional numbness and have better  emotional health. You will see how to stop feeling guilty and stop being crippled by  guilt, shame and remorse. As part of this you may want to make amends for some things you did, but that will be in a way that is good and right and not in a way that causes you further harm. 

When you forgive yourself you become easier to be around, You become a better parent or a better child You become a better teacher or student. You become a better employer or employee. You become a better friend, and you also become a more forgiving person who is more able to forgive others. 

Self forgiveness is one of the keys to stress management. It allows you to reduce stress that comes from not letting go of the past. It helps you overcome a sense of failure. It is a coping strategy for dealing with overwhelm as you become more forgiving of human frailty.
 
Self forgiveness is a very useful coping skills not only for anxiety and stress but also for depression and many types of psychological and even physiological ailments.

Please share this video and help forgiveness to spread. 

When you forgive yourself everybody wins!