Learning how to forgive others and forgive ourselves when we make mistakes is a lifetime asset. Kids of most abilities can learn about forgiving and then use it with family, friends, at school or work and at play, both giving and receiving. It is a valuable social skill.

Forgiving others and being forgiven

For example, when outdoors playing and you fall over a wagon that your classmate left off the track, it is better to forgive that person for their forgetfulness than hold a grudge and lose out on their friendship for a little while or in the long run. After all, one day you may become distracted and leave a toy in the midst of others playing which someone is bound to trip over. You would want them to forgive you rather than not play with you again.

Forgiving is both giving pardon and receiving pardon, and these are skills that when practiced daily preserve the peace, and preserve harmony all around.

Forgiving ourselves

Forgiving ourselves for not being perfect and making mistakes and errors in judgement is very important, so that we can keep trying and not hold ourselves back in our progress in maturing. We need to move on and learn the skills we will need as adults to successfully navigate in society - at work and in friendships.

And as we grow into adulthood we need to forgive ourselves for our errors in judgement so we can go right on and try more and more new ways of proceeding and not get stuck in a groove of remorse.

Methods of forgiveness

Saying "I'm sorry" is the way most of know to ask for forgiveness, especially when we've hurt someone's feelings or accidentally broken another's toy. It feels better to say the words and preserve the friendship than try to hide from what you've done.

And we forgive ourselves from our mistakes by deciding to change our behavior in the future, and by realizing everyone makes mistakes and it is okay, it does not mean we are bad.

Forgiving others and ourselves is an important skill in living, giving us opportunities to keep going forward with peace and harmony in our lives. It is a skill to learn and practice growing up so it becomes a regular habit when needed.

Social Skills Homepage
Free Lessons
Kids Books and Videos

Recommended
Yoga for all Kids - With illustrations and descriptions, how to teach 4 styles of meditation and 15 gentle moving yoga poses that can be used as a basic motor skills lesson plan, plus 12 how to live chapters and a dictionary of 40 definitions of happiness in 83 pages. For kids of all ages and abilities - for teens and adults, too! Available as an Ebook or Print Book


Article by Susan Kramer