It’s that time of year . . .

December 15, 2022

It’s Self-Forgiveness Time

Every year it’s important for me to take an inventory of what I’ve achieved and feel good about in regard to my accomplishments. But I also take stock of what goals I didn’t reach or what mistakes I may have made. I don’t like that part.

So this year is no different. I got a list of things I accomplished, people I helped, classes I trained, and podcast episodes I produced. Except I also made a big mistake this year and it’s painful but I can’t look away. I will learn from this.

But here’s the thing. I can’t just focus on the losses or the failures. I’ve been in business, and simply been alive long enough, to know I need to give more attention to the good things I accomplished.

This is because what we focus on expands. If you are a student of the Law of Attraction, then you know this. I mean I know it, but knowing something and doing it or practicing it makes all the difference.

This is why I’m talking about it. Nobody likes to look at the past when there are painful lessons. But to make sure I don’t repeat my mistakes, then look at them I must. But I will not dwell on it and you shouldn’t either.

It’s like getting bad feedback. You acknowledge it. See if you can learn from it. But if it’s just one person’s perspective and all other signs indicate it’s not your problem, then you can move on. We can’t just focus on the negative and try to change that one person’s perspective.

But when we do make mistakes, it’s because we are human. Sometimes we fail. We are imperfect and accepting this and forgiving myself when I mess up is one of my life-long lessons.

This year I made a bad financial business decision. I’ve done a lot of work on letting it go, but now that it’s the end of the year and I need to look at it again, I can still feel a whole range of emotions so I guess I’m still working on it.

Then my mom sends me a list of quotes the other day. She does this periodically and it was perfect timing for me because the topic was failure.

Here are a few of my favorites that helped me:

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” ~George Bernard Shaw

“We should regret our mistakes and learn from the, but never carry them forward into the future with us.” ~L.M. Montgomery

“One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist. Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” ~ Stephen Hawking

Being human is not easy when you have high expectations of yourself but it can still be really fun when you let go of all the self-judgment and accept your humanness.

I encourage you to forgive yourself for whatever mistakes you might be ruminating on. I’m going to take this advice too.

Take the stress off yourself and let it go as best you can. If you need some help with that, you can always get on my calendar and discuss possibly working together. Forgiveness is part of my program.

I’ll leave you with one final quote that I really loved:

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world.” ~ Neil Gaiman

Thanks for being in my life and reading my newsletters. It means so much to me and I love to hear back from you so please hit reply, anytime and share how you’re doing.

All my best (and imperfectly human),

Maureen

On the Emerge. Evolve. Lead. podcast this week . . .

My guest this week is Angela Ryan. Angela is a mom, a retired Pharmacist and in recovery for 16 years. She was married to an active alcoholic who was staying home to take care of the children but was deeply unhappy. When she noticed strange behavior in her son, she decided she needed to change and took control of her life in a whole new way.

Changing your life doesn’t happen overnight but if you keep taking baby steps every day, your situations will change. Angela is now happily married to a sober person in recovery and shares her amazing story of transformation.

Click below to listen now.