It’s 10:30pm after an exhausting day and I’m propped up in bed, book in hand, winding down for the night. Just as my mind drifts towards the beautiful realm of unconscious bliss, I’m suddenly reminded of that stupid thing I said to someone as a teenager..

The dumb thing I did as a young adult…

The time I did something awful when the right choice was clear…

You know, all the things your brain decides would make you feel horrible, guilty and regretful. It plays out like an out-of-tune symphony that somebody forced you to attend. It’s re-watching all the horrible parts of movies you normally like to skip over (or avoid), except you can’t.

It’s all pelting me like a torrential rainstorm, caught unaware and ill-equipped to deal with it. I can no longer sleep as I lie in bed thinking about how horrible of a human being I am.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just let it go?

It is possible if there is a willingness to forgive.

While it takes an incredible amount of strength to forgive others, it takes a whole lot more to forgive ourselves.

We may never perfect it, but the path there will lead to victories.

And those are the victories that help us sleep at night.