Dear past self:
I forgive you.
I acknowledge you were doing the best you could with the tools, knowledge and experience you had at the time.
I recognise you hold value and have since become integral to my growth.
I’m sorry it has taken me so long.
I now understand that I am and will always be a work-in-progress and that is a beautiful thing.
I promise from now on I will try to give myself – past, present & future – the love, compassion and grace I deserve (and always have deserved).
Thank you for the role you played in getting me here.
I’ve got us now
and I promise I’ll love and care for us enough for the both of us.
P.s You were always enough and I’m so sorry that people made you think otherwise.
Journaling Prompt:
Self-love, kindness and acceptance is a daily practice. It may look like giving yourself permission to forgive, heal, rest, let go. It may not. One great way to work on your self-esteem is to start giving yourself the same love, kindness, and compassion you give others. This can be practiced by writing a letter to yourself. This could be a letter to your younger self, to yourself in 6 months, to the self that feels or has felt unseen, unsafe, lost, or angry. You are worthy of your own love and acceptance too.