5 Reasons Forgiving Yourself Will Shift Everything (Replay from the Self-Worth Podcast)

Ever been stuck replaying something you said or did — the words you wish you could take back, the moment you handled differently, the season you’d rewrite if you could? We’ve all been there.

In this replay from Jaclyn Steele’s Self-Worth Podcast, Jaclyn reflects on what it truly means to forgive yourself — not as a fluffy concept, but as a radical act of liberation. Still on maternity leave and recording from her phone (complete with the joyful chaos of a toddler in the background), she reminds listeners that guilt and shame sit at the very bottom of the emotional frequency scale. If we want to live fully — with peace, purpose, and presence — we have to let them go.

Because forgiving yourself isn’t about pretending mistakes never happened. It’s about remembering who you really are beneath the weight of them.

The Frequency of Forgiveness

In this replay, Jaclyn reflects on a book that deeply shifted her perspective — The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard. It helped her see forgiveness, spirituality, and even the idea of separation from God in a completely new light (because sometimes the hardest part of faith is remembering we were never apart in the first place).

As she shares, our souls were created in perfection, extensions of divine love itself. That means guilt and shame are illusions — shadows that convince us we’re unworthy when we’ve never actually left the light (we just forgot how bright it really is).

1. Forgiving Yourself Reconnects You to Truth

When insecurity or self-doubt creeps in, it’s often the ego’s way of convincing you that you’re separate from your source — from love, from God, from your own wholeness.

Jaclyn shares that you can meet those moments with grace by simply saying, “Hi ego, thank you for trying to protect me. But I choose to believe I am a perfect extension of God.”

It’s a gentle shift that says: I’m safe to stop fighting myself.

2. Forgiving Yourself Makes It Easier to Forgive Others

Judgment — of others or ourselves — always stems from pain. Jaclyn reflects that those who hold tightest to grudges often hold themselves to impossible standards.

When you practice forgiving yourself for the small things — snapping at your partner, sleeping through your alarm, missing a deadline — you start to loosen the same expectations you hold for others.

The more compassion you offer yourself, the more naturally it flows outward.

3. Forgiving Yourself Frees Up Energy

Jaclyn laughs as she shares an example: waking up late and immediately berating herself for it. (Been there?) That negative self-talk drains more energy than the mistake itself ever could.

She encourages listeners to pause and reframe: “Maybe my body needed rest. Maybe that extra hour of sleep was divine timing.”

Every time you forgive yourself for something small, you reclaim a piece of your peace.

(And suddenly, mornings don’t feel like mini battles anymore — just new beginnings.)

4. Forgiving Yourself Creates Space for Healing

Healing doesn’t happen in the presence of shame. It happens in the presence of love.

Jaclyn shares that self-forgiveness isn’t just a mindset shift — it’s an energetic clearing. It creates emotional space for new layers of healing, the kind that feels tender, honest, and deeply human (like finally taking a deep breath after holding it for too long).

When we stop trying to fix ourselves and start loving ourselves, transformation follows naturally — quietly, almost imperceptibly at first, and then all at once.

As she puts it, “It’s really hard to create a beautiful life if we dislike ourselves.”

Forgiveness, she reminds us, becomes the soil where joy, compassion, and confidence can finally take root — the kind of soil where something new and sacred can grow.

5. Forgiving Yourself Makes Life So Much More Fun

“Life is not that serious,” Jaclyn reminds us, smiling through the mic. She shares how she and her husband Sam recently talked about taking things too seriously — how they both realized joy had quietly slipped behind responsibility.

Self-forgiveness brings that joy back. It lets you laugh again, play again, and find peace in the imperfections.

When you forgive yourself for not meeting every expectation, you make space to actually enjoy your life.

Choosing Grace Over Guilt

Jaclyn admits she’s a lifelong overachiever. She’s been hard on herself for as long as she can remember. But these days, she’s choosing to speak to herself with the same tenderness she gives others.

“Everything I’ve done,” she reflects, “has led me here — to this moment, to this microphone, to this beautiful, imperfect life.”

Forgiving herself hasn’t erased the past; it’s illuminated it.

And in that light, she’s found freedom.

Final Reflection

So here’s the invitation Jaclyn leaves us with:

“What would it feel like to forgive yourself for all your perceived shortcomings?”

Because those shortcomings? They’re illusions — tiny stories the ego tells to keep you small. The truth is, you were never separate from your Creator. You are love. You are light. You are enough, right here and now.

(And forgiving yourself isn’t just healing — it’s holy.)

Live on purpose. Live on frequency.

• Ien Araneta - editor of The Freq Show & The Beckon Times