There are very few things you MUST do in order to be happy.  Forgiving yourself is one of them.

Some of us (like me) tend to take our mistakes, knead them like dough, roll them out over and over and then lock them in a box in our chest until they rise, doubling or tripling in size.  This does not serve us.  And it doesn’t allow us the inner knowing that we are worthy of happiness and love, just by virtue of our existence.

So you’ve made a few mistakes and have some regrets; so does just about every person on the planet.  The difference between the happy person and unhappy person isn’t that they haven’t made a complete mess of things (again, like me), it’s that they’ve learned how to clean up the mess, forgive themselves for it and move forward. If we look at our missteps as lessons, learn what need to from them and how to do better next time, then we can let them go.

It’s important to realize that every person, including you, is doing the best they can with what they’ve got at the moment. When you doubt yourself, when you’re feeling unworthy, remember this bit of wisdom from Buddha, “You, as much as anyone in the universe, deserve your love and respect.”

You are a unique and miraculous being. You are a universe within a universe.

There is so much more to you than the events or outcomes of a single day—or even a single year.  We live, we learn, we evolve.  And when we can let go of the past as the past, and rise to the fresh start we are given in every moment, we can be happy.

It’s ok.  It really is okay. Let go of yesterday and begin today wiser and with compassion.

Michele McKeag Larsen is on a mission to spread joy, optimism and inspiration. She blogs about her own continual journey toward joy at ISpyJoy.com.