Forgive and Move On – The Wise Money Path

I caught up on my emails last week.  Some were personal, some were business, and some were newsletters. I love reading email newsletters – I subscribe for much needed inspiration, and to receive free tips, recipes and deals.

As I was writing this newsletter, I had just read Cheryl Richardson’s newsletter on forgiveness.  You may be wondering what forgiveness has to do with finances.

Many of us have struggled with our finances at some point in our lives. We made mistakes because we didn’t know how to manage our own money. Why is that? It’s partly because finances aren’t considered a polite topic of conversation. It’s unthinkable to ask questions about a topic you never hear anyone discuss freely and openly. We’ve had to learn about money as we go, and that means learning from our embarrassing mistakes.  Those missteps may have cost you dearly – both financially and emotionally.

Forgive yourself and move on.

Now is the time to forgive ourselves, and others who have hurt us, for our financial missteps. You may need to forgive the person who never repaid the money you loaned them, or you may need to forgive the person who damaged your credit because they reneged on a loan you cosigned. You may have to forgive yourself for overspending  in the past and now you wished  you had saved that money instead. You cannot wave a magic wand and change the past.  Somehow you have to find a way to move forward.  You do that by forgiving yourself.

Forgiveness is not an easy process.

You can make the decision to forgive, but it takes some work to actually let go of the shame, guilt, anger or regret that is keeping you from moving forward. It’s a process.  I would encourage you to read books or speak to an expert about the path to forgiveness so that you can get closure in your life, move on, and claim the wisdom earned from experience.

Resolve that today is your first day on the Wise Money Path and that you are going to forgive the mistakes you made while you were on the spend-thrift freeway.  You are going to take expert advice when you need it and make informed choices that work best for you and your family from now on.

 Remember that I support you in your journey.