How many of us feel ashamed of something in our past? My guess is all of us.

Did you know that shame is the lowest emotion on the scale of consciousness?

When I was a child my mother would say often, “Shame on you!” I doubt she knew just how effective that was. It took years to climb out from under that pile of shame she heaped on me. I took a silent oath that I would never say those words to anyone.

Self forgiveness may be the most difficult form of forgiveness. We can still recall the emotions tied to an event as if it happened only moments ago. We relive it over and over in our mind wishing we could go back and do it differently, knowing we can’t.

Here’s the thing. No one remembers things the same. No one is reliving your moment the same way you are. To not forgive yourself is to voluntarily go on a repeat spin cycle of hell.

So, how do you do forgive yourself for something you perceive is so awful that you’ve relived the shame of it over and over? Well, I can tell you what I’ve done to heal a great many things that were buried long and deep. Things that weren’t even so bad, but for some reason made me feel shameful.

Prayerful meditation is the most powerful tool I’ve found. When there is something that needs to be healed, I sit in a meditative state, ask for God’s help, then pull up the painful memory and look at it as if I were an outsider watching the event happen to someone else. When looking at it that way, my emotions change to sympathy for a young girl who was put in a position not of her choosing; or sympathy for a young girl who made a wrong decision when she didn’t think it through; or sympathy for a young girl who was simply misunderstood and was not given an opportunity to explain; or sympathy for a young girl who was surrounded by people who didn’t know the meaning of love.

When you can sympathize with your younger self and the situation you once found yourself in, it becomes easier to comfort and forgive yourself for mistakes. While you continue in meditation, imagine placing the scene in a protective bubble and handing it over to God. Release it from your memory bank so you can lighten your load and brighten your inner world.

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I hope this series on forgiveness has been helpful to you, my friend. Should you need a prayer, I’ll be happy to send one up on your behalf. Just leave a comment below. Blessings.