Giving Up Guilt

Giving up feeling guilty for not conforming to others’ beliefs is the moment when we become independent. Independence is taking responsibility for our life, and for any interaction with others. Taking responsibility isn’t talk that fills up space; it creates space.

People may have a good demeanour, know all the right words and follow their chosen path, which is usually one with others for company. If their attitude isn’t one with which we can conform, we feel guilty, and there’s no sense of completion.

Everyone’s path is unique according to each individual’s obsessions, confusion and doubt. This is what we are resolving in our own life – we don’t need to accumulate more clichés. 🙂

Our backgrounds may be troubled, or trouble-free. We are where we are, so we don’t have to keep feeling guilty, as we’re all a work in progress.

Guilt acts as a heavy weight, locking us into past mistakes and holding us unrealistic standards of perfection. When we reframe our lives as a work in progress, we intentionally swap our destructive self-criticism for constructive self-compassion.

This view is the most liberating shift a person can make.