Some of us carry so many unecessary burdens! We hang onto our past mistakes,leaving no room for our daily ones. We should realize that life is a learning experience that never ends, therefore neither will our mistakes.

The best we can do is be honest, own up to what we did, then do our best, try not to repeat the same thing again. Then forget,  and get on with life's lessons. We probably will repeat some of them, because it is human nature to do so. The thing is not to let them hold us hostage.

When we ask for forgiveness, remember to also forgive ourselves, and that should be the end of it, for that particular mistake. To live it over and over is something that keeps us from becoming all that we can be. It is foolish to let the past hold us back from future happiness.

We who believe in living according to moral standards, should know that it is futile to keep ourselves bogged down with guilt. Yet we do it all the time. We may not even realize it because it is such a subtle habit, from childhood on we are told about the wrong we do, and the consequences to be paid, so we play the tape over and over again, out of habit.

We need to have a good talk with ourselves and come to terms with the fact that by not letting go of things we have already paid for in a sense, by owning up to them, then we are allowing our faults to dictate our behavior, which in turn becomes an obstacle to achieving our goals or from having peace and happiness.

More relationships are ruined, because of unforgiven mistakes than anything else. Since we are all equally capable of making mistakes, it seems incredible that we hold others accountable, for something we too can so easily do wrong. I guess we each own a bit of hypocrisy too.

It is said that before we love others we must first learn to love ourselves. Well, I think the same goes for forgiveness. We must also learn to forgive ourselves if we want to be able to forgive others. It is certainly  worth achieving, since it is the most freeing  and satisfying of all the goals we  can set for ourselves.

Eileen Alrisha~2005