Affirmation: “I forgive myself for the mistakes I’ve made.”
Journal Prompt:
What do I need to forgive myself for right now?
Self-Care Ritual:
Have you ever gotten a splinter before?
That tiny piece of wood, lodged just under the surface of your skin, is like unforgiveness. It is causing pain, because it sits in a tender place. And bumping it, increases the pain. And the idea of removing it, is sometimes an added source of pain as well.
But what happens if we don’t remove it?
Your immune system sees it as an intruder, and goes on the defensive. This could mean swelling and redness in that area. If the splinter isn’t removed, the body will likely try to push the splinter out. What’s more, pockets of pus may form to help expel the splinter.
If you leave the splinter longer, it’s going to begin the process of decomposing. It doesn’t have the ability to go anywhere either, as it’s trapped by the skin that grew over it. And your inflammatory response continues as well, so the area can sometimes develop a bump… a protective bubble of immune cells, that surround the foreign object. By now, you can tell it is infected.
And any infection left untreated, can spread and cause other issues. If left long enough, it can turn into septicemia, or blood poisoning. So leaving a splinter alone isn’t without risks… the splinter needs to come out, as soon as possible, because the body reacts to it.
When we don’t forgive an offense against us, we’re basically allowing a splinter to stay under our skin.
The original offense is a tiny splinter. But if we don’t remove it right away, and instead choose to focus on it, it expands. Meaning the anger, frustration, bitterness, animosity, etc., are all expanding… growing bigger in us… becoming an infection.
And if it’s an offense against our self, we’re creating all that negative, infectious energy in our own being, directed at our own being. Therefore, it is exponentially magnified. We are hitting ourselves with the double whammy!!!
So, we MUST remove the splinters… as soon as possible!
The good news is, true healing comes about by willful choice and action. In other words, intentionally choosing to take action, will bring you healing!
Think about the things you wrote in your journaling today. Make a willful choice to forgive yourself for those things. Tell yourself that you’re sorry for not tending to your body in the beginning of the issue, and work to remove the splinter from yourself.
It sounds hard, but facing it is half the battle. And while not everything that is faced can be changed, nothing can changed until it is faced. You can choose to face these things, and intentionally pull them out of your life, so the healing can begin.
It is the most amazing act of self-love… to forgive yourself!