grateful soul

Month one of a beautiful new year! As we become fully immersed in the last year of the decade, some of us might still be in the process of shedding the old. A huge part of the process of releasing is forgiveness – the absolving of all binds to remorse, guilt, or shame. But often times we focus on forgiving others, which is very important indeed, but what about forgiving ourselves? If we are in any way feeling chained to some unhappy aspect stirring in our soul, how can we expect to feel free and reach new heights of our being?

A great practice to incorporate weekly, monthly - whenever you feel like you need to take a step back and remind yourself that the past shouldn’t take away from the present and future – take a moment to just be. Regretting a decision you made? Even if you would have done something differently in the moment, you probably learned something from the experience, and who knows, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise later in life. Wish you hadn’t said something that slipped your lips? In the moment that was your truth, and it’s okay to go through those types of mistakes. Haven’t stopped thinking about a missed opportunity? Let it go, because wallowing in that loss will only strip you of more potential moving forward. We are all human and we need to learn to love ourselves and trust the process. Being our own best friend and standing behind our own decisions (or being self reflective and recognizing when we could have approached something better), is crucial to being able to harness as much of our individual power as possible and living as aligned to our heart’s desire as possible.

Forgiving ourselves also means refraining from being harsh on ourselves for outgrown versions of ourselves that we may have a hard time supporting from our more mature and sage perspectives. Life is a journey of lessons! It is important to maintain gratitude for the ability to get to the point that you are today, to gain the perspective and capacity to even look back and realize you had room to grow. Socrates once said that he was the wisest man because “he knew that he knew nothing.” Being able to tune in and realizing there is always room for growth and acquiring knowledge is helpful in maneuvering through a world that sometimes pits us against expectations that we aren’t all molded to fulfill in the same ways. And a part of this journey comes from doing things that may lead to forgiving ourselves, because after all, we need to go through imperfect moments to appreciate the better ones.

Remember that when we are at optimal individual self, we are a bigger asset to our surrounding society as a whole. Melt away any unsettling feelings you have within your own heart and soul by loving yourself and slopping off any weight that is holding you down, so that you can ascend to a point where your blueprint is clear. Forgiving yourself makes room for more light and love to enter, and you can ensure that you are setting yourself up to receive an abundance, especially once you let the universe know that you trust and are healed. Whenever you are in doubt, look within, and tap into that energy that we all have access to – but remember that you’ll encounter fewer clouds when searching for what you seek when you are confident and content with yourself. Happy January and happy Monday!

Although I continue to write about the importance of staying positive, I know that at times it can be hard to see the light in every situation that we face. Sometimes as humans we cannot help ourselves from feeling sad, distraught, discouraged, or hopeless. This post will aim at helping to overcome the tougher times in life and acknowledge our natural feelings.

We cannot always predict what life has in store for us; life is a journey of ups and downs. Even the most positive of people can experience the other end of the spectrum of emotions. When life throws something at you that evokes within you some sort of sadness, grief, confusion, or anger, it is important to not get frustrated with yourself. In my own life, if I find myself extremely distressed by something, I can sometimes fall into a pit of upset. However, it is important to keep in mind that we are inclined to react to different situations in certain ways, so in order to ease our experiences through challenging emotions, we must remind ourselves that such experiences are temporary and that we do have the strength to persevere. During life’s less happy times, the key is to acknowledge what we may be feeling, and with that, acknowledge that there will be more good times ahead just like there were before we fell into a more melancholy time. This goes along with trusting that we have divine guidance for our life path and that sometimes we must go through some tough times in order for life to fall into better place.

I think it is important to also recognize that although we might not always understand the situations we go through or feel like we have the power to persist, these are feelings that come naturally to most of us and we are not abnormal in any way. Even when it feels tough to stay positive and push through, just allowing ourselves to live out our validated feelings and knowing in the back of our minds that we have the potential to return to a life of optimism, is an act of staying hopeful. I know that often times it feels as though once one bad thing happens in life, things spiral into a pattern of negativity, but we must try our best to release the little annoyances and find the little things to be happy about.

The next time you are faced with a trying situation, don’t get frustrated with yourself or with life. Or better yet, know that your frustration is valid, but that it is not the only thing you can feel. Within us all is divinity that is there to guide us if we just listen and trust. I cannot stress enough how supported we all are, even when we are physically alone. Our souls all harness the energy and power of the universe that is available for us to tap into at any time. Life will throw what seem to be bumps and unfairness along the way, but we must look at life with multi-perspectives and realize that both the good and the bad times in life are temporary.

I would like to end this post with a mantra that someone very dear to me enlightened me with. It helped me heal in a time of unexplainable darkness that I truly did not ever think I would get out of, and regardless if you have ever resonated with the feelings of a deep depression, these words are an important reminder for all points in life.

“You are worthy because you exist, you exist because you are worthy.”

Forgive Yourself

Allowing for Imperfection