How to Forgive Yourself After Hurting Someone

People try for the most part to not hurt others and to follow compassionate, decent lives. Sometimes hurting someone is unavoidable, but the key to achieving less stress and more happiness is the ability to forgive yourself after it happens.

Instructions

• 1

  Apologize to the person you've offended. Ask if there is anything you can do to make the situation better. If he rejects the offer, at least you tried.

• 2

  Analyze why you hurt this person. The best apology you can give is to make sure you don't repeat the behavior. Examining your motives will help you avoid the offense in the future.

• 3

  Empathize with the person. Put yourself in her place and imagine her pain. Try to understand why she was hurt and look at the situation from her perspective.

• 4

  Remember that no one act defines you. Hurting someone once doesn't make you bad. Recall instances when you helped that person and others to provide some balance and vow not to repeat your mistake.

• 5

  Write a letter to yourself that forgives your mistake. Compose the letter as if you writing to your best friend. We often are harder on ourselves than we are on others, and you should give yourself the same compassion you would show to a friend.

• 6

  Share your feelings with disinterested parties. Perhaps you were not totally at fault, but you just cannot see that without the help of others.