I was heartbroken and filled with guilt in the year 2019. (Believe me, this is not a good combination.)

What's the reason?

Someone I was dating at the time broke up with me. It wasn't her fault; it was my fault because I cheated and told her. I couldn't hold it in any longer. It was the only time in my life that I had done something like this.

I was ashamed of myself.

Even though it wasn't a long relationship and she had previously ghosted me (I'll skip the details for now), it hurt. It hurt because I was guilty, and I felt terrible. My self-esteem suffered greatly.

How could I possibly do this?

After a few days, I went to a good friend at the time and told him everything that had happened and how I had been apologizing to her in vain.

He suggested that I apologize once more, which I did.

She was clearly done and just wanted to be done with it, and I was a mess.

I was drunk, crying and ranting about how I wished I hadn't done this, blah blah blah...

"Vikram," my friend said. You made a mistake and told her about it, but you can't expect things to be okay just because you admitted it. There are consequences to your actions; she does not want it now, and you must accept responsibility for what you have done (And then he said something I will never forget), but no matter what happens, you cannot make your life ugly because of your mistake; the beauty of life must remain because life is all we have.

That night, I passed out. (There are far too many details to go into here.) She eventually forgave me, and we parted ways, moving on with our lives.

But what my friend said that night stuck with me because it helped me accept responsibility for what I had done, forgive myself, and, most importantly, take the ugliness of what I had done with grace.

Take responsibility for your actions every time!

"The beauty of life must be preserved because life is all we have." ❤

Thank you for your time!