Guilt is a feeling of remorse that arises when you have done something wrong or think you have.
The best way to handle guilt is to talk it out, to a close friend or your loved one, sometimes, confiding in someone will make you realize that it’s not as traumatizing as you thought it would be, and then the guilt starts to vanish.
Accept the fact that you’re not perfect, that you’ve done things that aren’t nice. But that doesn’t mean you should penalize yourself forever and ever amen.
If you’ve done something that you truly regret, say you’re sorry and try to redress the situation. Very often the things you are feeling guilty about didn’t have any affect on the other person and you’re suffering for no reason.
Remind yourself that what you did is just part of being human. That the behavior isn’t unique to you doesn’t make it OK, but it’s reason enough to stop beating yourself up about it. Try keeping a diary of all the good things that you’ve done. So whenever you’re feeling overpowered by guilt, stop and list things you’ve done that are commendable, whether they are small or large.
A Year Ago
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Tags: affect, confide, diary, guilt, human, penalize, perfect, redress, regret, remorse, vanish
May 30th, 2008 at 1:55pm
Life is of endless growth and improvement. =)
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May 30th, 2008 at 7:27pm
Wannabe Economist Yeah, tell that to the pessimists.
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