Guilt is an emotion. It’s neither good nor bad. In your body, feelings are chemical reactions that we’ve evolved to feel based on what we are thinking.
YES! It’s our thoughts (we have 60,000-80,000 per day, fyi) that trigger our emotions, not what is happening.
Here’s an example:
Say you got married on a beach. It was picture-perfect, clear skies, turquoise water, a soft kiss of wind keeping all the bugs at bay. You embraced, toasted with your best man and maid of honor, spent your honeymoon there…
When you thought of that beach, you’d be flooded with all the good feels, right?
What if, on the same beach, you didn’t get married. What if, at this paradise point, you were playing in the water. You were pulled under by the undertow, and almost drowned?
And, whenever you thought of that beach, or any beach, you’d be flooded with an entirely different set of feelings – fear, helplessness, exhaustion?
Guilt is the same way. Now we know that it’s our thoughts – that we don’t even notice – that trigger its unwelcome arrival.
Here’s what you gotta do to replace those thoughts, and become guilt-free.
READ ON TO Guilt-Busting 101 >
If you’re still reading this, try clapping your hands together 10 times. Each time you high-five yourself – or someone else – it releases a feel-good hormone called dopamine. Ahhh. Now, where were we?
