How to Live with Guilt

We all make choices.

Some leave you with the burden of guilt, an anchor dragging down your thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Whether you inflicted harm on purpose or indirectly, this can be a challenging and difficult way to spend your life.

It comes back time and time again, a reminder that at one time a different “you” took the driver seat.  Perhaps overcome with wrath, envy, or pride, you managed to betray everything you stand for or undermine an ally’s well-being.

As even the tiny mosquito proves a bothersome and frequent adversary, a small act of treachery can show up time and time again to disrupt your thought process or sap the happiness from a proud moment.

How does one move on?

Should you accept it and admit that you deserve to be hounded continually for your “mistake?”

Has it allowed you to become a weaker, demotivated or spiteful version of yourself?

I’ve done a few things in my time that have come back to whip my “soul” with ink tipped barbs…a few lashes here and there for an act of devilish behavior directed toward someone who posed no threat.

Now, if this same act was directed toward an enemy….well

What’s done is done. Don’t allow it to enslave your every thought. You have seen the world from a unique perspective.

Understand it.

Use this opportunity to etch some memorable lines in your story.

Become enlightened by understanding the burden of guilt, redirecting this black energy toward something…selfish even.

For you…but for others.

Share your experiences with a trustworthy confidant, clueing them in to what may appear a mystifying existence to the outsider.

Only you know you.

Others perceive or guess the underlying justification for your behavior.

how to live with guiltGuilt now becomes a test of discipline and will.

It is unyielding.  It refuses to leave. You understand that now, and it counsels your future endeavors.

You wield a new blade, reforged on the anvil of guilt and regret.

 

Alpha Challenge:  Restore speaking terms with someone you wronged, and convince them to build something great…as allies.

Carry your chains, Marley.  The choice was yours alone.

You’ll take guilt to the grave, but your story may yet live on…

 

2 Comments


  1. Interesting post, R. Using guilt as a means for motivation, in a way, this is like harnessing a negative emotion and utilising it for the better. Well said.

    Reply

    1. That’s exactly it. Moving on from a difficult past can be one of the most difficult challenges, but it can really harden your sense of self.

      Thanks for the post.

      Reply

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