You had to have it! It was just too tempting! You couldn’t help it. You were just little. But you got caught! You got caught stealing a cookie when you were told not to. And now you’ve done something bad. You didn’t listen! You were told not to take a cookie! And off to your room you go. You’ve just been punished! Shame on you for not listening!
And now you’re all alone in your room, and your tummy feels really yucky. You feel sick. You hide your face from the world because you’ve just let someone down. You don’t want anyone to see you crying. Nobody loves you anymore for what you’ve done. You feel like you’ve just committed the worst crime in the world by not listening to your parents. You’ve let them down terribly! And so you put your head down in shame. You bad, bad person. Shame on you for stealing that cookie!
Fast forward to now. Do you still have that shame? Do you still feel like you let people down? Do you still feel like you’ve done something bad? Do you still feel unlovable? Do you still want to hide your face? You’ve been carrying that shame for a long time now.
Maybe you feel like you’re not good enough now. Maybe you’re not smart enough, or strong enough, or pretty enough, or creative enough. Is there still something wrong with you? Maybe you don’t belong anywhere, you can’t be yourself, and nobody would like you anyway. You still feel that shame don’t you?
It’s time you stop telling yourself these lies. You are a lovable person, and you deserve love just as much as anyone else.
You are capable of doing so many things, and worthy of doing anything you want. You are not a bad person! And you did not cause this shame that you are feeling now. You are not to blame for anything. It’s time to give yourself a second chance! Your punishment is over. You’ve carried this shame around for too long. You can come out of your room now.
