The beauty of guilt

Only people with conscience can feel guilt.

(Note that conscience and consciousness both share the same root.)

We have all done things in our past that we are not proud of. There are things that we did behind closed doors, when we thought no one else was watching. There are thoughts we thought that we wouldn't disclose even to our closest friends. There are things that we did to people who had nowhere else to go, because they were too young, or were too innocent, or were totally dependent on us. I am talking about things we wouldn't write in our autobiographies or memoirs.

We could choose to hide such past mistakes under the carpet. Or worse, we could justify to ourselves that what we did was not all that bad, and tell ourselves that there are others who have done much worse. But let's not justify our past mistakes like that and cheat ourselves - that could lead us to disaster. Let's go one step further and see how to live a life of character.

The first thing is to accept that we did something wrong. That requires a strong character and a well calibrated internal moral compass. Once we accept our mistake, there is hope. We will feel guilt, and that's the starting point of release. That's the beauty of guilt - it guides us in the right direction.

Next step is to release ourselves from guilt.

Can we do something to correct our past mistake? Can we ask for forgiveness? For example, say I back stabbed someone in my office by bad mouthing them to someone else. Can I pull that person aside and ask for forgiveness? Or at least communicate to my company human resources department that I feel bad for my past action and help them communicate my apology to the victim? If that will cost my job, I would have other jobs lined up before I reach out. But remember - as long as I have guilt pricking my heart, I cannot be truly free.

If I cannot reach out to someone and ask for forgiveness because it's too late (maybe the victim is not even alive now), can I at least make a vow to myself that I will not repeat my mistake? If I did that, I would have most of the weight lifted off my shoulders. For complete release though, I have to go deeper and tell myself that I am different now, and I am more conscious of my actions, and will not succumb to emotions of greed, jealousy, pride, lust, anger, or passion. Not translating imagination into action, especially when the imagination is fueled by negative emotions, is a worthwhile exercise in right living. If we all did that, the world will be a much better place.

In other words, we can choose to live our lives like a pencil with an eraser attached at the bottom. As long as we are aware, we can always erase what we wrote about our past in our brains and correct them.