“Light burdens borne far become heavy.” -- French proverb
If someone’s words spark feelings of guilt inside me, it’s not the words themselves that are to blame. Instead, guilt arises from my reaction to the words. We only feel guilty when we personally interpret that we have done something wrong or that we ourselves were wrong somehow.
And so it follows that we can choose to review what’s happened and interpret events differently. If we learn from the experience, it has been meaningful and we can free ourselves from guilt’s harmful negativity.
Guilt is particularly damaging when we carry it for a long time. In effect, we’re dragging the past into the present and this blocks our ability to live openly and fully.
Bring awareness to the situations that gave rise to guilt within you. Look at these experiences without judging yourself or anyone else. Can you open to the deepest needs of the people involved? What are you being invited to learn?
For a powerful spiritual exercise, consider the dualities of right and wrong, punishment and reward, and sin and saintliness. Explore how you can rise above the dualities to embrace wholeness.
And you might want to adopt this affirmation: I am loveable, just the way I am, always.
