Forgiving Your Younger Self

We all have them—the cringey memories that pop up at 2:00 AM. The mistakes you made, the people you hurt, or the opportunities you let slip through your fingers. It’s easy to carry that guilt around like a heavy backpack. But you have to remember: that version of you was doing the best they could with the tools they had at the time. You can't expect a twenty-year-old to have the wisdom of a forty-year-old.

Forgiving yourself is an essential part of moving forward. If you’re constantly looking in the rearview mirror, you’re going to crash into what’s right in front of you. Hope requires you to believe that you can change. If you hold onto your past mistakes as proof that you’re a 'bad' person, you’re denying your own capacity for growth. You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to be better today than you were yesterday.

Think about someone you love. If they made the same mistake you did, would you judge them as harshly as you judge yourself? Probably not. You’d offer them grace and a way forward. Why not give that same kindness to yourself? You are deserving of the same compassion you give to others. The past is a school, not a prison. Take the lessons and leave the shame behind.

When you let go of old baggage, you make room for new possibilities. You free up energy that was being wasted on regret and redirect it toward building a future you’re proud of. Be gentle with yourself. You are a work in progress, and that’s a beautiful thing. The most hopeful thing you can do today is look in the mirror and say, 'I forgive you. Let’s try again.'