How To Forgive Yourself & Move On With Your Life

Photo by Vietthi from Wikimedia Creative Commons.

In 1988, 18-year old Darin Strauss and a couple of friends piled in his father‘s Oldsmobile to play mini putt. While driving along a four-lane highway, a bike ridden by 16-year-old Celine Zilke, suddenly swerved in front of Darin’s car. She was struck and killed. In an instant, two lives were forever changed. Celine’s lost; Darin’s would become a life of guilt, regret and living in the past.

Why We Struggle To Forgive Ourselves

Darin’s is an extreme example of feeling the need for self-forgiveness. Most people feel the need to forgive themselves when we’ve:

• Hurt someone
• done wrong, caused harm, chaos, or
• have damaged our own reputation, image or self-worth

Despite the court deeming Celine’s death an accident and nothing could have changed the outcome, Darin felt at fault. While Celine’s life was lost, does that mean Darin shouldn’t be able to enjoy his own?

3 Ways To Start Forgiving Yourself Now

Acknowledge Your Mistake

Take responsibility for your actions. When in conflict Dr. Rick Hanson suggests the best way for people to resolve conflict is for one person to step-up and admit fault, ending…