| Guilt exists as a fabricated emotion. It holds little or | | | | conditioned to feel guilt by very well-meaning people. |
| no realness. It's hard to call it a real emotion. | | | | Those who loved and cared about us the most were |
| You see, a real emotion is one that has both a | | | | the ones we learned guilt from. |
| positive and a negative side. | | | | Thus, guilt is often intertwined with love. Or rather, |
| Love, fear, hate, anger, sadness, happiness and so | | | | it's intertwined with our conception of love. We all |
| many other emotions all have both a positive and a | | | | have strongly-defined, deeply-entrenched beliefs and |
| negative component. Not guilt. | | | | attitudes and assumptions about love. |
| Guilt is all negative. It adds nothing to your existence. | | | | Often times, guilt seems almost inseparable from |
| Sure, many people use it as a motivator: | | | | love. Especially when we're afraid of love and afraid |
| "I'll feel guilty if I don't do this." | | | | of losing love, we'll surround our love with guilt. |
| It's called an 'expedient motivator'. Meaning, it's used | | | | Because it's much 'safer' to feel guilt than to feel |
| when you lack principle-based motivation. It's a cheap | | | | love. |
| way to inspire action in yourself and others. | | | | It takes courage to love. While guilt sometimes |
| Guilt basically comes down to manipulation. The | | | | surrounds love, fear always surrounds love. True love |
| function - the purpose - of guilt involves manipulating | | | | always brings up fear. Not because that's the nature |
| yourself and others to take some sort of action or | | | | of love, but because that's the nature of our society. |
| to feel some sort of way. | | | | It also takes courage to stand up to your |
| Guilt punishes. Both yourself and those around you. | | | | assumptions and question them. Very few have that |
| Guilt contributes nothing. It only takes. | | | | courage. Fortunately, all the courage you need is |
| So why do we feel it? | | | | already available to you. That's the nature of courage. |
| We've been taught and conditioned to feel guilt. | | | | All you have to do is open up and let it in. Then... |
| Often, by well-meaning, loving, authority figures in our | | | | Guilt can be ended. |
| lives. Guilt becomes a substitute for love. | | | | Guilt serves no useful purpose. It's a distraction from |
| Unfortunately, guilt dissipates quickly. It has a short | | | | your true feelings. It separates you from yourself. |
| half-life. It turns into resentment. So if you're | | | | It's a cheap way to punish and a cheap way to |
| manipulating another with guilt - attempting to make | | | | motivate yourself. Guilt manipulates you and others. |
| them feel guilty - they will resent you. | | | | When you find yourself feeling guilty, the key is to |
| Because guilt often comes down to anger you don't | | | | go beyond it: |
| have a right to have. | | | | What am I not wanting to feel? |
| For example: if we're arguing, but I know you're right | | | | What am I hiding from? |
| and I'm wrong, then I don't have a right to get | | | | By asking yourself these types of questions you can |
| angry. So I might feel guilty instead. | | | | start breaking free of the habit - the pattern - those |
| To work with guilt, first understand the psychology | | | | neurological pathways of least effort that lead |
| of guilt: | | | | straight to guilt. Then you can get in touch with |
| It's a substitute emotion when you're unwilling to feel | | | | what's real. |
| what you're really feeling. | | | | The knee-jerk reaction to feel guilt can be replaced |
| When you're feeling guilty, you're not in touch with | | | | with the natural order of feeling what's real. |
| your true feelings. | | | | That's how you deal with the psychology of guilt. |
| Secondly, understand we've been taught and | | | | |