I am sorry for judging myself harshly (continuously). I am sorry to myself for feeling so much shame (not being married, not having children, not having a family life). It has been excruciatingly lonely, and I'm sorry for not meeting this much suffering with compassion and mercy. I have relentlessly criticized myself for this experience. I feel haunted by immense loss and envy of people who live in relationship, with intimacy in their household. I am sorry for blaming myself for this much pain. Thank you, Stephen and Ondrea for your gift of lovingkindness.

There's so much to apologize for. There's so much to be angry about, and (as I learn from Stephen and Ondrea), anger is almost always about grief. I lost my mother 8 months ago. She had lived a good long life, and she was very complete with her process, but I am not. She literally died 12 hours after I was married (she came from the care home to see) and I know that she felt complete and happy that I was happy. Her process was wonderful, but mine is very painful. I was immediately thrown--at the age of 50--into marriage, a new family, and the loss of my parent whose caregiver I had been for several years. The fallout has been so pervasive that there are times when nothing seems real to me, except the bills that continue to accrue. I apologize to my siblings for my taking some of the inheritance money to smooth my way. I intend to make it up to them when I can, but there are times when there's just no other way. I apologize to my father, dead 13 years now, for the ways I could not appreciate him in life. I apologize to my new wife, who is a magnificent person, for my numerous adjustment faults and difficulties. The only person I'm not apologizing to is my mother...Am I complete with her? Did we get it right enough? And me? Do I need to say I'm sorry to myself? Mostly I berate myself for my shortcomings. "If only I'd learned that at 15, I wouldn't be dealing with this at 50." "If only I'd played Little League, I would have gotten through the insecurities that still hold me back in some ways." "If only I had won acceptance to that particular graduate school, the one that would have covered up my failings." There's more, so much more. But I ask for the compassion of those who read this.

I apologize to my father for being impatient with him during his last illness. As I realized it was his last illness, I learned infinite patience and time slowed so that it seemed we had forever to be together in his last days. Now, I am applying this profound understanding to the time I have with my aging mother. I do apologize to her because I did not have faith in her recovery and rescued her from a mental health institute only after they had spent much of her estate she so painfully earned. I forgive myself for the sequence of events, not knowing how non-gentle the mental health system is. She is thriving now that I am managing her care. Now is the time to celebrate our love. But, darn! I find guilty thoughts arise, partly because my mother continues to grieve her material losses. I forgive her for that ongoing process. I forgive myself for a mind from which emerges self blame. I am deeply grateful that I am alive, and all the love that is around. I abide in mercy from within and without. Thank you Ondrea and Stephen. So happy to have compassionate witness.

I apologize for not accepting the love offered to me by partners and friends, for not feeling worthy of their love. I apologize to me for not loving all of me, for thinking i did not matter, for leaving without looking back. I apologize for not uncovering my heart and letting the love flow, for releasing the passion i have for life, up until now.

I apologize to myself because even as I write this I am angry that my husband is in the other room probably looking at pornography on a computer screen which he quickly switches when he hears me nearby. I forgive myself for being obsessed and wanting to catch him, but not confront him because I am afraid. I keep returning to see what he is doing; I keep peeking. I forgive myself that I am still sneaky and not yet ready to be truthful. thank you, Ondrea for this opportunity to share and be heard, and to hear others. It is hard.

I apologize to my mother for taking for granted all the things she did for me when I was growing up. I love her immeasurably.

THE APOLOGIES YOU DO ARE NOT ONLY FOR YOURSELF ,BUT IT SUPPORTS EVERYONE IN THIS DIFFICULT WORLD. 2012 IS GOING TO NEED ALL THE LOVING KINDNESS YOU CAN SEND TO THOSE LIVING WITHOUT LOVING KINDNESS. TREASURE YOURSELVES LOVE ONDREA&STEPHEN;

I'm so sorry for allowing myself to be abused both physically and emotionally all those years. I apologize to my children who witnessed first hand the unhealthiness of this relationship I had with their father. I apologize to my children for all the hurt I have caused them by my own decision to stay in an abusive relationship. I'm sorry to my extended family for putting them through a lot of worry because of my unhealthy relationship. I apologize to myself for thinking that I didn't deserve better. I'm sorry I didn't just walk out when I should or could have. I apologize for not realizing that all my unhealthy codependency has resulted in my children having emotional issues of their own now that they are grown ups. I'm sorry I didn't say something to my parents when I was 14 and sexually abused by a teacher that I trusted. I carried all that guilt with me until I married someone that abused me because I felt that I didn't deserve better. I ask forgiveness from anyone, including my family and children, whom I have offended or hurt in any way... I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone. I forgive myself for any wrongdoings I may have done... I did the best job I could in raising my children with the emotional tools that I had. Thank you Stephen and Ondrea for your wonderful work...... you are the most kind and caring people I know and I would like to emulate your kindness in my life to those I meet. LOVE and PEACE to you and everyone out there.

Thank you to all of you for contributing so deeply to my own healing. At the moment I am doing intensive forgiveness work. It is simply time. Part of my healing is bearing witness to yours. Everything I read here makes me cry. It opens my heart so completely to the beauty and fraility of our being. I forgive myself for not coming to this website more often! I forgive myself for not holding all of you & the heart of the world more often. I promise to do better. I forgive myself...

Life is so hard...Stephen says it all the time. I apologize to my mother, for not knowing and understanding her physical pain. She was very stoic about it most of the time, but when something seeped through it was very real, and I often did not respond well. Now that I'm well into middle age, I feel some of those discomforts, and I'm not stoic. She used to say to me, "I wonder how you will handle it when something really bad happens?" Well, nothing that really bad has happened yet, but it surely will. I apologize to her, to myself, and to all the beings that are in pain, which means everyone. I know this is turning into a lament rather than an apology, and the only question I can offer is: "Why doesn't life come with an instruction manual?"

I apologize to my boss for being ungrateful and demanding at work. I apologize for not working hard and demanding much in return. I apologize to my friend for inadvertently hitting on his wife. I apologize to myself for drinking too much too often and getting lost. I apologize for not treating my roommates cat well. I apologize to my roommate for not treating him well. I apologize to my friend for being envious and jealous of his success and therefore not being much of a friend to him. I apologize to my brother for not being a good house guest. I apologize to my mom for being cold to her many times. I apologize to myself for not taking better care of myself. I apologize for all the ways that I've been selfish, demanding, self seeking, cold hearted and arrogant, for holding on to all my resentments for far too too long.

I am sorry I hurt Kaela and lied to my Momma.

I am sorry for hurting others with my judgment of them or shutting down my heart to others because I think I know what they should do. I am sorry for letting my anger impact my parenting.

This is a long list of apology, directed to family and friends for whom I have not done my best. My mother died last year, leaving a lot of responsibility to me, as the executor of her will. I have done my best to be fair, but the confusion, the figurative headaches have made me less than what I should be. I ask the forgiveness of all concerned, and the compassion of others.

Dear H, I am sorry that I gave you information purposely intended to hurt you. Please understand that I was feeling so bad myself, and I misplaced my pain and anger onto you. There was another part of me that truly wanted to help because I really do feel love and care towards you, but at the time we communicated, I had so much bitterness and sadness inside me that my intentions became mixed and I wasn't the helpful, loving person that I wanted to be. It is my wish that it actually served a useful purpose in the end, perhaps teaching both you and I some lessons we needed to learn. It is also my wish that you will understand that I am not a bad person (just a person capable of acting badly at times) and that I do have great love for you. Forgive me. I hope you are doing well Love T.

I have spoken unskillfully in the past few days. I have forgotten that just because something is true doesn't mean it should be said. I am learning from this and am praying to remember right speech in the coming year. I am truly sorry for whatever damage I may have done. I don't want to be an agent of pain.

Dear J. I am sorry for causing you pain and confusion so many years ago. I was working through my own stuff at the time, and it had nothing to do with you. Forgive me. Sending you love, J.

I send immense love to my father and mother. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for judging you and holding your past parenting errors against you for so many years. As an adult, I realize now that we are all, at the core, beautiful beings just trying to make our way through the darkness and light. I know that you are sorry, too. May our pain and immense sorrow lighten now. And may laughter, love and joy be our new meeting place. I will always love you and I will forever be proud and honored to be called your child. I send you peace and lightness of being.

I want to apologize to my sister for touching her sexually when I was 11 and she was two years older than me. I told this to my therapist and was convinced that it was maybe because of curiosity. I understand this logically, but this is not helping me take the guilt out of my heart. As I write this I feel a bit better. Thanks for this forum.

I apologize to myself for hanging on to my food addiction.