#06 - Letting The Light Within Shine (forgiving others and yourself)

Hiking with my brothers in the Santa Monica Mountains. 08:33am - 2/26/26

Good day my friends! This reflection explores the power of acknowleding your journey (both the good and the bad), giving yourself credit, the power of forgiveness of others and yourself, and allowing your light to shine.

This particular article explores how accepting our emotions, validating our personal struggles, and practicing self-forgiveness allows us to release the past and reconnect with peace, worthiness, and joy in the present moment. I hope you enjoy!

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Be still, be at peace. You are exactly where you’re meant to be.

Everything happens for a reason, and it will ultimately be for your good.

This morning I’ve been reflecting on gratitude, self-forgiveness, and letting go of the past for the sake of even more enjoyment of life in this moment.

I’ve had tough times in the past, and struggled with allowing myself to recognize how much those tough times have had an impact on me. I hadn't paused to recognize my own courage, resilience and goodness through these tough situations. I’ve learned how valuable it is to be kind to ourselves in the pursuit of our dreams, as well as during tough times; even when we feel we’ve messed up and are at fault.

True love is recognizing that it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s okay to not know all of the answers, it’s okay to be afraid, or sad, or angry. It’s okay to feel like life has dealt you a bad hand to feel the injustice of your circumstances and your upbringing. That is all okay. (This is something I needed to hear and understand for many years. I'm starting to get it!) I once thought that acknowledging these things was a weakness, that doing so was a lack of gratitude, “who am I to feel bad about what I’m going through, when there are so many other people going through worse, i should be grateful”.

What I’ve learned is that our own experiences deserve recognition, regardless of how they compare to someone else’s life. We shouldn’t even be comparing it to others in the first place, or using other people’s suffering as a metric for why I shouldn’t feel bad about my own current situation. Every person’s life is unique, and their experience of what is hard for them is relative to their own life. It’s okay for my hard to be hard, even if the same situation would be an improvement for someone else, or vice versa. (stated: it's okay for someone else's hard to be hard for them, even if their hard would be an improvement for my life.)

Now all that being said, the following is where the light shines in.

1. Give yourself permission to feel all that sadness, all that shame, resentment, anger, fear, injustice, for a few moments, minutes or even an hour. Set a timer. During this time, grieve, laugh, cry, blame those at fault, let yourself feel the fullness of it all. Do not hold back. This is your chance to actually experience everything that has brimmed under the surface, been held back or suppressed. (do this is in a safe place please, no operating heavy machinery while feeling please lol)

2. When the timer ends, let go and forgive.

Forgive the person or the entity, group of people who caused it. This is also a place where you have the opportunity to forgive yourself. This part is crucial and will set you free. It can be the case that in the process of going through these tough times, we’ve been hard on our selves in the process. Examples: Maybe you’re angry at yourself that you didn’t take action sooner, or maybe you feel you’re not worthy because you haven’t done enough. Maybe you’re ashamed because you feel you’ve been hiding, not letting your light be seen, when you know you could make a difference if you could just let yourself shine. You deserve self-forgiveness. It will set you free. This is why it’s important for you to not only forgive the world, but also remember to forgive yourself. (Sometimes we forget, one of the most important relationships we have is the one we have with ourselves) You deserve the love, forgiveness, care that you offer others. You can give it to yourself.

It takes courage to do such bold things as forgiveness and acceptance for yourself. Sometimes you have to be a little delulu (delusional lol) to even allow yourself to give it a shot. Whatever it takes for you to forgive, let go, and love yourself again, it’s worth it. I promise you beautiful things await on the other side of this whole-making process of self-forgiveness.

One final note. You are already worthy, you already have the light within you. It’s shining right now! You can decide in this very moment to embrace and embody who you are. It’s not separate from you, it is a part of you. If it feels like you can’t access it right now, that’s okay. Maybe try the steps above and feel the things that you may not have given yourself permission to feel, and grant yourself and others beautiful forgiveness. Just remember, reclaiming yourself, your light, your joy, your peace is a decision away, it’s a new idea away, it’s only a moment away. You don’t have to wait any longer. You can have it right now. It’s available to you in this very moment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope it helps you bring light, joy and fulfillment into your life. All the best!

David