How can we forgive ourselves?.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
“I have a hard time letting go of my past and truly forgiving myself.
Lately, I meditate to calm my mind and to be present in the here and now.
I grew up in an environment where I had to take it all the time from a verbally abusive father.
I had no power and that caused so much anger, despair, and lack of compassion.
I never felt truly happy in my life.
On a few occasions, I just exploded out of anger and hurt my close family and friends with my defensive behavior and hurtful words.
I had no control over myself and became someone else, someone like my father.
Now almost 10 years later I still feel guilty about my behavior.
Even my thoughts can be dark and negative, not only about myself but also towards other people.
I don’t understand where these thoughts come from. I end up feeling bad and guilty afterward.
How can I liberate myself from guilt and where do obsessive thoughts come from?”
Response:
You said that when you were young and had no power to stand up to the verbal abuse from your father you exploded with anger and now you look back and feel guilty.
But your reactions at the time were all you knew and felt you could do.
All we can do is do the best we can at the point in life we are at.
Now you are an adult and can respond differently to abusive behavior, but you can’t go back and change who you were then.
The power you have now is the capacity to understand and see that your younger self was doing the best it could at the time, and there is no blame or shame in that.
We all act with imperfect knowledge.
Real self-forgiveness comes in recognizing that you did your best and there is nothing to forgive.
Love,
Deepak
