Your past self is not less than your present self

I see so many people wallowing in shame, self blame and cringe at the thought of their past versions and it breaks my heart.

Imagine your future self coming up to you right now calling you stupid, ignorant and so many other hurtful things for not knowing what it knows in the future.

Would you say it's fair to your current self? Do you currently know the things your future self knows in order to make better decisions or avoid certain situations?

If you're a person who learns and grows, I can bet you don't have the knowledge and wisdom you will have in future.

So how can it be OK to bash your old self for not knowing and doing better, from the standpoint of someone who now knows better?

It's just abusive towards yourself. You did the best you could with the information and knowledge you had available at that time.

That doesn't mean you necessarily made the right decision long term, it only means you did the best you could and not less.

Show some compassion towards your past.

You wouldn't be here if your past self hadn't done everything possible to help you survive, even if now, in retrospect you feel like you could have done better.

It doesn't matter. It only matters that your old version handled it better than you currently give it credit it for.

Be grateful to it.