Been thinking over the last week about guilt and its presence and impact in my life … and in those who I care about, so I wrote a length post on the iThemes blog about How to Deal with Guilt.
Here’s an excerpt of how I determine if something is baseless, useless guilt, or actual guilt:
My Self-Assessment of Right or Misplaced Guilt
In each of those examples I gave, I try to ask myself some key questions to better understand my guilt and determine whether it is legitimate or baseless, including:
- What am I actually feeling guilty about?
- Why am I feeling guilty?
- Did I do everything in my power to do what’s right by myself and others?
- Did my actions reflect my personal values and beliefs?
- Did I harm or hurt someone?
- Does the other person(s) have unrealistic expectations about me and my life?
Then with this honest, sobering self-assessment of my attitude and actions, I ask myself:
- Should I be on the hook for this?
- Is it really my responsibility or obligation?
- Is this something I need to change or make amends for? Or is it merely useless and baseless and I need to move on?
Go read the full post on How to Deal with Guilt here.