Guilt "Lite"

I am so conscientious that I feel guilty about every failing, real or perceived. Do you want to move through life guilt free? BE PERFECT!!!

If contrite for our mistakes, everyone should be allowed a second chance.

In the event that you are unable to achieve perfection, try my guilt "lite" recipe for life. If you are doing the best you can, you are absolved of firsthand guilt. You can always shift whatever vestiges of guilt remaining to your upbringing: parents, grandparents, ancestry, genes, etc. Secondhand guilt is much easier to deal with. I coin it, "guilt lite." First of all, much of what I feel guilty for is just basic human error. This side of heaven, it's pretty easy to come into contact with. 

Kidding aside, WHY do I feel so much guilt? Did I get it all from my forebears? I think I may have interpreted what was expected of an exemplary human being in my own way and then created rules for living based on a super-hero image of what my life should look like. 

If I don't cut myself some slack, who will? If I accept that I should be perfect, should I blame everyone else for expecting that of me? 

I'm bringing my best every day. If my conscience is messed up, does that mean my performance suffers? 

It will if you don't allow yourself to be human. In this technological age, it's easy to think everything should be accomplished to perfection. But you've no doubt heard the phrase, "garbage in; garbage out." Even with all our technological advances, we can't ensure perfection.

I have attempted to be perfect. All I have done is imperfect.

I will continue to attempt to be perfect. I will continue to make mistakes.

Is there a mathematical formula for contentment with this situation here? I'm not as good at math as english, so here's my solution:

When you do your best; be satisfied that you have done your best. What more can you do?

Forgiveness?

There are things in my life I wish I'd done differently. But then, I couldn't have done them differently without the knowledge that I have now. I need to forgive myself. I need those who were affected by my life choices to forgive me. I need to take my lessons and move on.

"Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future." ~Lewis B. Smedes

There are things that others have done to me that have hurt me deeply. I have borne the pain of their deception, betrayal, evil, oversight, thoughtlessness...


There's not much I can do about the actions of others, but my reactions to them are within my control. Yes, I can feel HURT. Yes, I can feel BETRAYED. Yes, I can cry. But the thing that I most absolutely, positively CANNOT do is STOP living my life and being authentic. If someone else is messed up, that doesn't stop me from growing and evolving.

What do you want to grow up to be?