Don't Allow Guilt to Lock You Into a Box
The world is waiting for your kindness
You've carried it around for too long. The weight of the whispered chant "I wish I hadn't" etched a dent into your soul. And your worst regrets are becoming an answer to who you are.
Please forgive yourself.
When people say you are more than the mistakes you made, please know you are not at all the mistakes you made. You are what you intended. You are what you learned. You are less of what you were yesterday and more of what you want to be tomorrow.
Put the pen away from that infinitely long list of the kind of happiness you do not deserve. What you really do not deserve though is any more of that feeling, lingering, luring you into an abyss. You don't deserve to be punished.
Please forgive yourself.
The nights you toss and turn, as all the things you wish you could change play in a loop in your exhausted mind are silent screams of your self-sentenced soul. Your self-deprivation of life's simplest joys is proof you suffered enough.
When someone says you are wonderful and you pull back, when appreciations coming your way seem to have sharp edges, and tears roll down your face as you think to yourself "If only they knew," you've put yourself through too much for too long.
Please forgive yourself.
Blunders. Mistakes. Crimes. Sins.
You are human for all of it.
You don't walk all over the corpse of your conscience. Instead, you keep suffocating that wonderful human-ness of you carrying the wounded body of your conscience everywhere you go. You are more human than so many others.
Why do you keep denying forgiveness as if it isn't meant for you? Of all the things you could have rather done, of all the things the universe has in store for you, of all the things you can so happily move on to - why have you chosen to assume the roles of judge, jury, and executioner of your treasured, tender spirit?
Yes. Treasured.
Because if you truly open your eyes to how this world is infested with hearts that need to hurt others for their own healing, you would haunt yourself a little less. If you knew how many sinister souls spread suffering without remorse, you would love yourself a little more.
Yes. Tender.
Because you are hurting, undeservedly. You put so much more guilt on yourself than you carry. Tender, because your regrets draw from your desire to do better, to be better. They draw from a pool of profound kindness in you. Please be kind to yourself first.
Please forgive yourself.
Don't lock yourself into a box of guilt
When unchangeable mistakes stare at you, stare back. Give them one last stare, and know you are going to walk away and never look back. Because while you can't change what you can't change, you can change a thousand other things. Come. Step out of it.
Don't let yesterday steal today and kill tomorrow.
The world is waiting.
It's waiting for the good in you. It's waiting to share a laugh with you. It's waiting for the countless wonderful things your tender heart has to offer. It's waiting for your dreams and visions.
So break out of that box. Take your blank slate. Start over. You know you will do better now. You don't need to suffer anymore. All the errors overpaid for with a suffocated heart and streams of tears, with how you withheld yourself from your own love - let them blur into the horizon with yesterday.
Step outside. Because you have to. Because it is the only way. It is the only path to fairness, to yourself and everyone else. It is the only route to changing things for the better, the only road to find joy in yourself through the joys of others. But the first step to through that open door is forgiveness. For yourself. It's not a luxury. It's essential.
Please forgive yourself.
The world is waiting.
About the Creator
The Silent Pattern That Is Draining Your Life Without You Noticing
The Silent Pattern That Is Draining Your Life Without You Noticing Not all psychological struggles announce themselves loudly. Some don’t come as panic attacks, breakdowns, or visible crises. Some arrive quietly. They blend into your routine. They feel like “just life.” And that is exactly why they are so dangerous. This article is about one of those patterns. When Functioning Becomes a Disguise You wake up. You do what needs to be done. You fulfill responsibilities. From the outside, you look fine. But internally, something feels… depleted. Not sadness. Not anxiety. Just a constant low-level exhaustion — mental, emotional, existential. This is not laziness. And it is not weakness. It is a psychological pattern built around over-functioning. The Over-Functioning Trap Over-functioning happens when your sense of worth becomes tied to: Being useful Being reliable Being the “strong one” Holding everything together At first, it feels like maturity. Later, it becomes identity. Eventually, it becomes a prison. You stop asking: “What do I need?” “What do I feel?” “What do I want?” Because survival has trained you to focus only on: “What must be done next?” Why This Pattern Forms This pattern often develops early: In emotionally unpredictable environments In households where your needs were secondary When being “low-maintenance” kept the peace When responsibility arrived before safety So you adapted. You learned to function without support. You learned to silence discomfort. You learned to keep moving — no matter the cost. And it worked. Until it didn’t. The Cost No One Talks About The cost is subtle but heavy: Chronic emotional numbness Difficulty resting without guilt Feeling disconnected even during success A sense that life is happening around you, not within you You may achieve things. You may be admired. But fulfillment feels strangely absent. That absence is not a flaw in you. It is a signal. Awareness Is the First Disruption This pattern survives on invisibility. Once you see it, it weakens. Start noticing: When productivity replaces self-worth When rest feels unsafe When you only feel valuable while giving You don’t need to “fix” yourself overnight. You need to listen — without judgment. Healing here is not dramatic. It is quiet. Consistent. And deeply human. A Final Thought You were not meant to merely function. You were meant to experience life. If this article resonated, it’s not because something is wrong with you. It’s because something true was finally named. And naming is always the beginning.
By Med Abdeljabbar7 days ago in Psyche
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