“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do” ~ Voltaire
Guilt is a horrible thing, isn’t it? It has the power to bring us to our knees in shame, drive us crazy, stress us out and generally just feel bad. Quite often, we feel guilty even when we didn’t do anything wrong or when we know in our heart of hearts, that we’re not to blame.
Doesn’t matter. We still feel it. Some of us are just more sensitive than others and, for them, it’s quite easy to feel guilt.
It has a funny way of messing with us. It can make you physically and emotionally sick. It can eat at you every day which may very well result in depression.
Related article: Find peace right now using one of the following 7 tips.
We desperately try to shake it off, to no avail. Sometimes our feelings and emotions get the better of us and no matter how hard we try, we are guilt ridden. According to studies, some of the effects guilt can have on you are as follows: + Tendency to make irrational decisions + Can result in low self esteem + Ignore your own needs
It doesn’t have to be like this. There are ways to stop feeling guilty but you must be open to receiving the tools and actually practice them. With a bit of daily work, you can change any mindset or feeling you have.
Below are 5 simple ways to get you through your next guilt attack.
1. Practice self-love.
Guilt will make us feel like a bad person, even if we didn’t do anything wrong. When we learn to love ourselves more, guilt will take a back seat and eventually, never show up again.
Take the time to nourish your heart and soul and take back the love you once had inside of you for you. Loving yourself is more powerful than you can imagine.
Once you have and feel that love, ill feelings start to vanish. This helps to build up your self-esteem again, hence, protecting you from future guilt attacks.
2. Meditate.
We all know, and have heard, that meditation has countless benefits. Did you also know that meditation can help free you of feeling guilty? Sure can
.
As meditation can help you regain some sort of peace and calmness, it also can help eliminate negative emotions that arise, guilt being one of them. Find time during your day, even 5 minutes to breathe in and out in silence, and release these negative guilty feelings. Eventually they’ll be gone!
3. Journaling.
I get that writing isn’t for everyone but it is positively one of the easiest ways to handle emotions.
When you sit down and write out everything that is inside of you that makes you feel bad, you are clearing your conscious and freeing your soul.
If it’s one person that is making you feel guilty, address a letter to them. You don’t have to send it to them, in fact, they don’t even have to know it exists. Remember this is for you, not them.
4. Talk it out.
Sometimes all we need to do is talk to a close friend. They may have a totally different perspective on the situation and can help you see it in another light. Or maybe you can actually talk to the person who is the contributing factor to your guilt feelings.
Let them know how the situation is making you feel. You might be surprised at the fact that they had no idea you even felt like this. When we talk things out, often we find that our feelings really aren’t necessary and it may in fact just be our insecurity that is making us feel guilty.
5. Have a funeral for it.
A funeral is a ceremony in which we pay our respects to someone that has been in our life and now they are gone.
I realize I didn’t necessarily have to write out that definition for you, but understand that just as we can send off our deceased friends and loved ones, we can also send off anything in our life that no longer serves us. Guilt being one of those things.
Take some time to prepare for a funeral and mark a date on your calendar, preferably sometime in the very near future. You can write out on a piece of paper all the things that are making you feeling guilty.
Make sure you are alone and away you go. You can conduct this service any way you wish. It’s your service, after all. After you are done, burn your paper and let the guilt go.
You see how easy it can be to stop feeling guilty. Remember it is an emotion that does you no good. There is nothing at all positive attached to it. You are here to experience joy, right?
Give guided meditation a go right now with this free mp3 album or read up on benefits of guided meditation
What are some of the ways that help you stop feeling guilty? Share them below. Sharing is caring.
