You may think that you deserve punishment for some of your decisions in the past, especially if you were not doing the best you could at the time you made them. 

Maybe you made some decisions out of insecurity, or from a place of feeling angry or even vengeful. Humans do that and you are human. If you choose to hold yourself to that for the rest of your life, a part of you will withhold yourself from the opposite of punishment, which is reward. A part of you will feel that you are not deserving of love, happiness, maybe even wealth, joy, or other good things that life has to offer. 

But when you withhold, you are also withholding those things from other people, too. Those things are only available to share if you allow yourself to have them. 

Forgive yourself. Release resentment by promising yourself you will make good come of the mistakes and missteps of the past by using that wisdom to not repeat them in the future..."from now, on."

Make apologies or amends where you can, even if it's been years. 

When you do, you will clean the slate of your present, and restore your future potential. 

You will be able to expand into all of the wonderful experiences this world has to offer. You will no longer push away anyone who genuinely tries to share great things with you because you will no longer believe inside that you are unworthy of sharing them. You will, under grace, be able to receive and share them as well. 

Forgiving others is for you, but forgiving yourself is for others. It gives them the most free and loving version of you that can exist. That may be one of the greatest gifts you could ever give them.