Realizing our parents actually make mistakes can be a crushing blow to our youthful idealism. It shakes to the core our misconception that somewhere in the world is some infallible constant that we can depend on.

It turns out that, in most cases, adults are just kids with a few more years under their belts.

But the best part about learning that we’re all flawed is understanding that this includes us too. Suddenly, this impossible ideal we’ve been trying to live up to as children comes into a more realistic context. What a relief!

But realizing in some general sense that we’re never going to be perfect is only part of the journey; true maturity is tested when we actually are face-to-face with our screw-ups. It’s easy enough to shrug our shoulders and say “well, no one is perfect,” but do we beat ourselves up emotionally any time we fall short of that same illusive ideal of perfection?

The toughest person we ever have to learn to forgive is ourselves. We’d much rather give others more slack than cut ourselves a break. That’s not to say that we accept anything less than the best from ourselves, but even in expecting great things, we are one-hundred percent guaranteed to goof sometimes.

Like realizing our parents are flawed, it may be hard to accept that those wise figures who we admire are equally imperfect; they’ve just begun to learn from their mistakes.

Forgiveness can heal both the recipient and the giver. Why not try it out on yourself and double the benefits?

Written by Krsitan Cole