You must forgive yourself even if you aren’t yet able to get all the way to the place where you feel entirely okay with what you perceive as your failures and mistakes. Sometimes, at the beginning, forgiveness can’t be anything more than setting aside your shame for a while. It’s deciding you won’t allow it to continue to be a barrier between who you are now and who you want to be. It’s understanding that what you call regret might truly be something else—fear or sorrow or a twisted form of comfort (if you feel overwhelmed by regret, well then, you have an excuse not to do anything).
