I've started forgiving myself...

Human behavior fascinates me. My fascination began twenty-one years ago when I started digging myself out of the deep hole of depression. As I've studied the human animal in an effort to better understand myself, I've learned many tools. The greatest of these tools is forgiveness. The first thirty or so years of my life were a fight for perfection. I never came close to that goal. I never even achieved mediocre competence at anything I sought to master. The monster that stopped me every damned time was that I never forgave myself. I never allowed myself to make a mistake. I believed, with every neuron in my hard head, that I should be able to master a skill on the first or second try. I believed that when I failed, I didn't "have what it takes", or some such idea. I wasn't just my own worst critic, I was the wall, blocking myself from achieving any form of success.

Chase Hughes (@chasehughesofficial and NCI University) advises to be ABSURDLY forgiving of oneself. I started forgiving myself for mistakes and perceived failures. (I write "perceived" because these things we label failures are simply opportunities to learn) When I began forgiving myself ABSURDLY... my world changed. Absurd forgiveness of oneself is nothing short of a superpower. I've come to understand that if I see every action and inaction as a learning opportunity, I will always have a good outcome to ANY situation or circumstance. Through self-forgiveness, I've learned how to "fail forward". Through self-forgiveness, I've made new neuron connections that lead to growth. The old me would spiral into negative self-talk. The old me would quit before he really got started. Forgiveness led me down a new path, a path of growth.