You make some really great points, as always. I'm under the impression that forgiving oneself would be similar to forgiving another, but I could be wrong. I sort of answered your question of would I trust myself in the previous paragraph, but I'll answer it more explicitly. Maybe. So long as I feel the guilt of what I've done, yes. But living with that isn't worth it, and I'm coming to realize that. But in light of the previous paragraph, yes. I trust myself. I know I will not do repeat those actions. Positive thinking. Thoughts create reality. My fiance recommened the book The Untethered Soul and it has done wonders helping me realize how to move forward. It's not your average self-help book. It really is enlightening.If those people still love you, perhaps they are waiting to hear from you.
Those who I love most have already forgiven me, which is the strange part. They've forgiven me but I have yet to do so for myself. It's also about showing intention to do no further wrong.
This is a tough one. I've been using the guilt as my defense against doing further wrong. Sometimes I feel as if that's what's preventing me from repeating my actions. Although, I have been getting to the root of the issue and working on healing that part of myself. But it almost feels like I'd be jumping off of a cliff if I were to be in that situation again and had forgiven myself. But maybe that's where it is. To be certain I would make wise decisions regardless. To be so utterly confident that it wouldn't happen again. Hmm...that may have been an internal revelation.
B_C -This above quote raises questions as does this one: We forgive others so that we are not personally weighed down with resentment for their past behaviour. We forgive others because sometimes we can see the bigger context of their behaviour and perhaps see that we too had some part in it. We forgive others because we love them and want to continue a renewed relationship with them -- we forgive them, but we are a little more cautious in our dealings with them. We learn to protect ourselves. So yes, forgiving others is different. How do we forgive ourselves? (and I too have done foolish bad things, so:) By "community service" - what I actually mean is doing more good than bad, actively going beyond the comfortable to help others, making amends perhaps indirectly. Daily. Consciously moving in the direction of goodness. What's done cannot be undone, as Lady MacBeth says. Sadly, there's no liquid paper for bad behaviour. Unblock those chakras with good deeds. Does that make any sense? I'll check out that book.I'm under the impression that forgiving oneself would be similar to forgiving another, but I could be wrong.
Those who I love most have already forgiven me, which is the strange part. They've forgiven me but I have yet to do so for myself.
I think forgiving others is very different from forgiving ourselves.