Forgiving Yourself

Why do we have a hard time forgiving ourselves? As I’ve thought about this question I’ve narrowed it down to three main reason. 1. Shame 2. An incorrect view of the experience or mistakes in general. 3. A misunderstanding of how we learn.

Shame is a different emotion than guilt. Guilt is actually a healthy emotion that helps us in our development. When we do something that goes against our own values or our divine nature, we feel guilty. This emotion is a message from the body to let us know we are not in line with our values. We can then correct the issue and move forward.

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The Secret Ingredient

In the movie Kung Fu Panda, we follow the journey of Po, a young panda who is told that he is a prophesied warrior destined to achieve greatness and become the protector of the land. The problem is, Po is overweight, clumsy, and seemingly not at all the warrior type. He spends a portion of the movie training, doing his best to catch up with the Kung Fu masters, but he fails spectacularly at first. He starts to believe that he is nothing special, and will never be the great hero he’s supposed to be.