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Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness pp 59–72Cite as

Repairing Meaning, Resolving Rumination, and Moving toward Self-Forgiveness

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Abstract

Meaning in life is the term used to describe how people make sense of their lives, how they commit to pursuing purpose in life, and how they come to see their lives as significant and worthwhile. Committing wrongs against other people or our own moral code, might—perhaps even ought to—challenges these components of a meaningful life. In fact, such wrongs may be considered to constitute a rupture in meaning, with a potential to spark intractable cycles of rumination. In this chapter, we propose that self-forgiveness and meaning work together to enable people to resolve their rumination, learn more about themselves, make reparations, and move toward healing their own hurt and that which they caused in others.

I have made many mistakes and no doubt will make more before I die. When I have seen pain, when I have found that my ineptness has caused displeasure, I have learned to accept my responsibility and to forgive myself first, then to apologize to anyone injured by my misreckoning. Since I cannot un-live history, and repentance is all I can offer God, I have hopes that my sincere apologies were accepted.–Maya Angelou, “Letter to my Daughter”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Kirsten L. Graham, Jessica L. Morse, Maeve B. O’Donnell & Michael F. Steger

  2. North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

    Michael F. Steger

Authors
  1. Kirsten L. Graham
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  2. Jessica L. Morse
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  3. Maeve B. O’Donnell
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  4. Michael F. Steger
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Correspondence to Michael F. Steger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Lydia Woodyatt

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA

    Everett L. Worthington, Jr.

  3. School of Psychology, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Michael Wenzel

  4. San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA

    Brandon J. Griffin

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Graham, K.L., Morse, J.L., O’Donnell, M.B., Steger, M.F. (2017). Repairing Meaning, Resolving Rumination, and Moving toward Self-Forgiveness. In: Woodyatt, L., Worthington, Jr., E., Wenzel, M., Griffin, B. (eds) Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_5

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