Getting Rid of Guilt

Last week, we discussed an emotional health issue which is anger. Emotional health greatly affects physical health as emotions manifest in our physical body. Now let’s tackle another issue - guilt.

Guilt is a by-product of all the “shoulds” people accumulate on their mental lists of “things to do.” To help you distinguish between what’s right for you to do and what you do because you’re guilt ridden:

• Don’t let others’ values dictate the way you live your life.
• Decide for yourself what’s important to you, what you value, or the way you wish to be.
• Don’t expect to be pleasant, wise, and even-tempered at all times.  It’s normal to feel irritable or angry occasionally. Feeling guilty about negative emotions is futile.
• Forgive yourself for mistakes in judgment,. Learn something from your mistakes. Make them work for you in the future.
• Take satisfaction in your accomplishments, rather than dwelling on your shortcomings.

 

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com