Follow up from practicing pardon! This week was a week of sharing mistakes, old and new, big and small and self-forgiveness. I found it easy to share mistakes, even the big ones, about relationships, money, that were removed from my relationship with the children. I was able to share and hopefully pass on the lessons learned so that my children don’t have to relearn the same lessons. My mistakes of youth were questioned, laughed at, and examined. I felt very good about these conversations, with some leading to their own declarations about what they would and would not do in these situations.
Where I hesitated, was sharing mistakes I have made with them, past and present. Was I going to create a space where they would judge or guilt me? Was this going to somehow make me less than a good mom? And all those crazy thoughts that the ego whispers to us to prevent us from living our most authentic selves caused pause!
Despite my fears, the little one shared her appreciation for me thinking about her feelings. Turns out for much of the stuff I was nervous to bring up, the older two did not think it was an issue, already knew I was sorry and had already forgiven me. I was even told that, “I figured you were having a rough time”. It led to a conversation about some of difficult times I have experienced, the practice of forgiving myself for my mistakes and the goal of staying true to our intentions. Not easy conversations but worthwhile for all of us. Confronting mistakes, especially are own can be scary but they are opportunities to practice self-love and reflect on how we can live out our intentions in the future.