How Self-Forgiveness Saved My Life | Josh Galarza | TEDxNewburgh

I just sent this to my 22 year old son. He truly is so hard on himself for every failure or age appropriate bad decision. He needs to forgive himself and love himself. He’s a beautiful soul and I hope this ted talk gives him courage. Thank you for telling your story. I know it’s saving lives. Servant leadership is so important for our young people to witness. I pray that you are doing well. I’m grateful to have been lead to you today. God bless 🙏🏽

Forgive yourself for what you did and what you didn't... Accept & move on to be a better person in life. Forgive yourself cause you aren't perfect.

My 16 year old daughter sent me this link with the message “Watch this when you start feeling guilty about the past. “ I’m so happy she shared this with me. His words made a positive difference for me.

Boy do I relate to this.. My days are dark. I'm worried I won't cope. I carry the guilt of my past around and can't let it go. Life isn't a good place to be.

self-forgiveness is crucial to self-compassion and reaching your goals!

I feel guilty for my past, I’m 21 and I have high dreams of influencing others and inspiring with my creativity. But I’m having so much trouble forgiving myself and pursuing anything because there are negative perceptions of me that I feel will literally destroy my life. And the amount of people who think I’m a terrible person is a small one but I identify with this constant past version of me. So I’ve been stuck for months not trying anything.

I’m 27. Can’t even begin to explain how many poor decisions or people I’ve hurt. I’ve been an alcoholic for 7 years. It’s taken nearly everything from me. About to lose my license for a year, lost the girl of my dreams in May, and she’s happily cuddled up with her new man on instagram. Ruined family relationships. Friends, jobs, everything. I cry every single day. I’ve given up hope things will get better but I’m still trying, I guess. I just never thought my life would be like this. Had such a bright future and threw it away for a bottle. Anyway, thanks for this.

1.Forgive yourself 2.Forgive others 3.Treat yourself with kind eyes 4. Do at at your own pace Rules of a happy life. Earl Nighingale

I'm 22 and feel exactly the same. I hurt someone I love really bad and cut ties with him. Now when I think of going back, I'm confused if it's because of guilt or love. And in case it's because of guilt, I don't wanna go back because he deserves someone who would love him with all their heart. I also have OCD, and have intrusive thoughts, sometimes about the same person and I just can't do anything but feel guilty and not deserving of love or happiness.

I find it hard to forgive myself a lot of the time where other people who have done the same things probably wouldnt think twice.

I got a little choked up at the end when he said "I'm gonna congratulate you in advance". It made me feel like I'm worthy of self forgiveness and that someone believes in me enough and wants me to do it.

Sometimes undiagnosed OCD can cause thought spirals, rumination and "unforgiveness". Its an anxiety disorder. You can't forgive, let go, or stop thinking because you BRAIN wont let you. It's not your fault. And don't feel bad if you can't forgive everyone. What I'm getting from this person, is his obsessive thought was he caused this abusive man's death. The thought was causing bad feelings and spirals. Instead, he needed to rewire his thinking to what it really was: the illness caused this man's death. OCD treatment is Exposure Response Prevention, and also bringing out those unwanted thought spirals and seeing them for what they are: Anxious Thoughts about yourself and others.

Just listening to this brought to tears. I have so much anger in me that I feel like I can't let it go. Listening to this tells me that I can let it go and move forward. Thank you for this much love.

I have no clue why this doesn’t have more views. This man is a great storyteller and I empathize with him deeply. In my opinion, this is the best and most helpful TED Talk about self forgiveness that I’ve come across.

Needed this. The amount of guilt I feel is insane. I feel like I’ve ruined everything for myself and I turn 18 next month

I remember watching this and crying my eyes out almost exactly one year ago. I was seeking for forgiving myself but didn't get to it easily, as it is a tough path. So many have changed since then, which I am so grateful for. Now, I am gradually doing better things and making better choices for myself. I believe everyone needs one to be on their side to protect them, root for them, uplift them no matter what. I choose to be that person for myself because now I know I am worthy of it.

I’ve made a lot of bad decisions lately,I’ve been so hard on myself for my failures based on my mistakes but I want to forgive myself,accept my mistakes as lessons and learn and move on from them

I am 53 yrs old and cannot forgive myself for taking my kids to my Xhusbands when I got really depressed. I think my son hates me. I think about suicide but I wont do anything because I don’t want them to suffer. It is so difficult to forgive all the mistakes I have made in the past. I have a lot of fear for the future too. I need to forgive myself for the past and stop worrying about the future and stay in the present. It is soooo hard. Please pray for me.

Excellent Ted talk. People don't consider self forgiveness yet we need to to be all that we can be in life. We are not going to be able to move forward if we are tied to our past through unforgiveness. I'm only just discovering the freedom that comes through self forgiveness. Thank you for this powerful talk.

I send this to my own messenger. This relieves my anxiety.