Guilty

QUESTION: I feel guilty all the time. Why can’t I get over the guilty feelings?

ANSWER:

Guilt is a part of the emotional and psychological makeup of every human being. We all have it. However, just as with any other of our emotions -- such as anger, fear, and even love -- guilt has to be in balance. Guilt should be looked at as a safeguard. Guilt is that emotion that tells our conscience mind that we have done something that is wrong. We could think of guilt as an alarm system that helps us to know when we are out of line. When we know the right thing to do and we do not do it, we will feel guilty.

However, if we "feel" guilty all of the time, then there is an imbalance in our mental attitude about our actions and ourselves. We are allowing the emotion of guilt to control us and that is what is wrong. Therefore, we need to examine ourselves. Do we have reason to feel guilty? Have we offended someone, broken the law, or acted in an anti-social way? If the answer to these questions is no, then feeling guilty is a false alarm. When the emotion of guilt is in control and making us feel guilty without cause, then the result is irrational thinking. We must find a way to bring our emotions into a balance by an honest evaluation of the situation.