85: Letting Go The Feeling Of Guilt

Guilt is an emotion that most of us have had. It’s normal to have some feelings of guilt but it’s when it becomes the main focus in your day to day is where it may start to have some negative effects on your life. Guilt has been showing up lots in my world and for my clients, so on today’s Podcast Episode I’m talking about the different ways guilt can manifest and positive ways to tackle it. Shortly after my Mom passed away, I was obsessed with researching food and how disease can manifest if we consume certain things. I felt guilty for not having known this information sooner. This guilt would consume me when I was feeling sad or angry for not having my Mom here with me in the physical world. It gave me something to blame when I was feeling upset; as if I needed a reason or answer why she wasn’t in my physical world anymore … and so I blamed myself. Looking back, it’s so clear how unrealistic these thoughts were - as an 8-year-old, how could I possibly have known the exact information she needed to beat her cancer? The blame I had was real though, and I am thankful that I didn’t let it fester and create anger deep enough to change my whole life. I started to understand that the blame was not realistic. Grieving is a process that can happen for many years - even a lifetime - after tragedy. So, we need to be patient while we process all of these emotions, but also be mindful of how it can affect us and those around us if we don’t do something about it. Suggestions to help Limit the Feeling of Guilt Talk to someone about it: a friend, a family member, a therapist; someone who can listen and someone who you can trust to give you some positive feedback on why you’re feeling that way. Journal about what you’re feeling when you’re feeling it, and why you think that’s coming up for you. Speak your guilty feelings and thoughts surrounding them as if you were telling them to someone you love, or even to a younger child. You see, it’s always easy to be hard on ourselves, but most words we utter to ourselves, we wouldn’t dare say to someone we loved. Treat yourself as you are your own best friend and be kind to yourself. It’s easy to criticize and be hard on ourselves but put things into perspective; if someone you love were to tell you how guilty they felt for something out of their control, you would certainly tell them not to worry and that it wasn’t their fault! Try this with yourself. And if you truly have feelings of guilt for wrong doing you know you did, learn from your mistakes. Guilt in times like this comes to us so that we know how to do things differently next time, but move forward in the now. So no matter where your guilt stems from, let it go. Let go of the toxic emotions holding you back from living and enjoying your life. It is up to you to decide to release yourself from the guilt. Let it go so you can MUVE forward from feeling the guilt.