Relieve Your Biggest Regrets With This Self-Empathy Exercise
No matter how hard you try to live without regrets, they can still throw up an ugly head from time to time. If you are tired of carrying the burden of your past, this self-compassion letter writing exercise will help you get rid of even your biggest regrets.
In a recent study by Jia Wei Zhang and Serena Chen of the University of California, Berkeley, researchers asked 400 adults to identify their biggest regret in life and then write about it. Those who were asked to practice self-compassion when they wrote about their experiences reported that they subsequently felt more motivated to improve themselves. They also felt obligated to avoid similar mistakes in the future, and the researchers found that looking around for regret with compassion towards themselves led to more overall growth. If you want to get rid of your own regrets, you can help yourself with a simple writing exercise similar to the one used in the study. Define your regret, grab a pen and paper, and answer this query:
“Imagine telling yourself this regret out of empathy and understanding. What would you say? “
Your “self-compassion letter” will help you accept your regret so you can learn from it . Acceptance is the key to letting go of your past mistakes, and without it, you won’t be able to forgive yourself and move on.
How to Grow Out of Regret | Great kind scientific center