17 ‘Failures’ That Are Only A Loss If You Don't Forgive Yourself For Them

In the wise words of Hannah Montana, " Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days."

No one is perfect and sometimes mistakes happen, but most of the time, these mistakes are things you should forgive yourself for.

1. If you don’t have your dream job yet…or even know exactly what that is.

There is always this constant pressure to determine our future down to every last detail, and our dream job is always one of the biggest aspects we are expected to have down pat. Sometimes we may have a general idea of the things we love to do, but don’t know exactly what that looks like in the long-term- and that’s perfectly okay!

2. If you aren’t where you thought you’d be by now.

I know that there was a younger version of you who had a whole life plan laid out. You may not be where you thought you would be by now, but what honestly matters is figuring out where you want to go from here- and working towards that.

3. If you changed your mind about what you want to do with your life (and therefore need to start all over).

When we finally have an idea in mind for the direction we want to go, it can be easy to stay within that path because we’ve worked hard within it. Yet sometimes, we end up feeling ourselves being pulled in another direction entirely. It can feel like you’ve failed, but truthfully, if you know you’re wanting to do something else, and you want it badly enough, then it’s not a failure- just a new start.

4. If you’re relying on your parents for some help.

It can be hard to admit, but regardless of how old we get, we might need some help from our parents every now and then.

5. If you haven’t forgiven some people yet.

When you’ve been deeply hurt by people, it’s not as easy as we tend to believe to just forgive and forget. In time, you might get there, but right now? It’s okay if you haven’t.

6. If some people haven’t forgiven you yet.

This might eat away at you, but you aren’t owed anyone’s forgiveness. Maybe you regret what you said or you did, and even apologized to them for it- which is all well and good, but just like it can be hard for you to forgive when others hurt you, it works both ways.

7. If you invested yourself in a long-term relationship that didn’t work out.

Dating honestly feels like a gamble majority of the time. When it comes to going out on dates, or shorter relationships, if they don’t work out it doesn’t feel like too much of set back- however, when a long-term relationship that you have fully invested yourself in and allowed to become very serious collapses, it can feel like a giant failure sitting on your shoulders. The truth is, you can’t change the fact that you were in this relationship, but don’t call it a waste- you probably learned more about yourself, love, and life than you did before entering that relationship.

8. If your friends all seem more put together than you.

The comparison game is something we are all subject to, and it can be even worse when it comes to our friends. Just because your life doesn’t look the same as theirs, doesn’t mean you’re falling behind by any means.

9. If your ex seems more put together than you.

More so than when your friends have it together, seeing your ex flourish can be even worse. While it can be difficult to accept, your ex is a person as well, whose life hasn’t stopped just because you’re no longer together, just focus on yourself.

10. If you feel a bit lost in life.

11. If there are parts of you that wish you could go back.

It’s okay to wish you could go back sometimes but you need to remember that you’re here, now. You’ve still got all this time to do something incredible.

12. If you feel like you’re only making mistakes.

13. If you don’t like the person you see in the mirror.

As long as you keep trying, you’ll eventually find the place where you’re happy with who you are, even if it doesn’t fit someone else’s standards.

14. If you’ve searched for validation in places you shouldn’t have.

15. If you took a risk and it didn’t work out.

Sometimes the things we want most require some kind of risk- and sometimes those risks just don’t pay off the way we hope they will. You just have to pick yourself up and try again.

16. If you’ve allowed yourself to fall apart and not be put back together just yet.

17. If you’ve made a decision that you regret now.

You are not the first person, nor will you be the last, who has done something they wish they could take back- but what truly matters is not letting this define you, and learning to make your next choices ones to be proud of.