By I was a news junkie for years. Partly because of my political science training and partly because I am naturally curious. I love being an informed human and voter. One day I discovered I could not sleep. Everything broken in the world was too much for my empathetic self to bare. After staring at the ceiling all night, yet again, and taking to God: I felt like there was solution. I immediately downloaded a news app on my phone and set up what I would like to get notifications for. I also decided to pay for another subscription to a trusted paper to read online. I stopped watching the news after that. I stopped working with it on in the background, too. I was and am still informed, but I had a much better balance and some healthy boundaries in place.
I say all that to get here, the news is hard today. I will not say anymore than that. The point of this post is not about the news today. It is related, however. I have been thinking and talking a lot about forgiveness in the last few days in my life away from blogging. Forgiveness is a core principle of my faith…and of all faiths. “Forgive others as Christ Jesus forgave you.” Forgiveness is easier for me to give to everybody but myself.
However, self-love and forgiveness are extremely hard things for me. I am my worst critic. Taking too much on my shoulders and internalizing are my specialty. Learning to forgive myself for my mistakes is a vital part of self-care for me and a big component of my best overall health and wellness. Feeling I will be able to help others through this post is motivation enough to be brave and write it. However, it is another practical way for me to showcase my faith as well.
If you are struggling to love and forgive yourself, you now know another who is as well. Sending love and holding space for my fellow humans , who struggle with all this, too. I see all of you who find yourselves nodding as you read my words. It is okay. We will be okay, eventually…rising stronger together as a community. Glennon Doyle’s, who is one of my favorite authors and teachers, mantra is “We Can Do Hard Things.” She is correct. We can.
