Forgive yourself for not knowing then what you know now.
Forgive yourself for the decisions you made while living in survival mode.
Forgive yourself for staying longer than you should have.
Forgive yourself for not listening to your instincts in the way you would now.
Forgive yourself for tolerating then what you would never tolerate today.
Forgive yourself for trusting someone who only ever betrayed your trust.
Forgive yourself for trying to be seen by someone who just never saw you.
Forgive yourself for not seeing the truth until after the damage was already done.
Forgive yourself for the version of you who was simply doing the best they could with the limited mental energy they had at the time.
Forgive yourself for not knowing how much you could lose before you finally decided to let go.
You’re not that person anymore, so forgive yourself and be proud of how far you’ve come, how much you've healed, and how much more you now respect yourself.
Forgive yourself because you deserve to set yourself free and allow yourself to move forward without holding onto the guilt and shame that rightly belongs to someone else.
Forgive yourself because the version of you who made those choices would be proud of the fact that you've became someone who never would again, and isn't that proof enough that you deserve forgiveness... 💙
~ Mark Smith