Guilt - How does it affect you every day?

Guilt. Where does it come from?  Do we each have a 'Jiminy Cricket', similar to Pinocchio, sitting on our shoulders 24/7 telling us and advising us when to feel guilty, informing us when we haven't conformed to society's norm or bringing to our attention when we have acted selfishly? 
How does that conscience 'character' develop and why do we listen to it so intently when it speaks to us?  

I was brought up in a Christian family and was instructed to go to confession from an early age to confess my wrong-doings, my sins.  It was my interpretation of my wrong-doings at the tender age of 7 that inspired me to 'confess' and this subsequently helped to formulate guilt in my mind and led me to invent my own, personal inner judge, my 'Jiminy Cricket'.  I would sit in front of another human being, tell them of my failings, then with God's intervention, I was absolved of my sins.  At aged 7, I hadn't broken any of the ten commandments, yet there I was, sitting in an isolated room talking to another person, whom I couldn't see, confessing my guilt.  I had learnt, at the age of 7, how to recognise and formulate guilt.

Is guilt the yardstick we measure ourselves against in Western society?  Is it a way of letting us know when we have or haven't conformed with a certain behaviour in order to be accepted?  Or, did it develop in ancient times to demonstrate how law abiding citizens should act so that society could stand a chance?

Whichever, we can take feelings of guilt too far, to the point where it starts to affect our everyday life.  We can be consumed by it, and yet in most cases, it is merely a matter of our own opinion.  When we gauge our behaviour against others, it is self criticism, it is self deprecating, and most of all it can be very destructive as to how we perceive ourselves as a person.

Guilt does not serve you, it undermines you. Moreover, it can undermine your confidence, and can ultimately lead to lower self-esteem.  

Who first outlined the blueprint against which you should judge yourself so harshly? Was it your parents, your teachers, your faith, or your peers?  When you don't meet the criteria that you have set in your own mind you subsequently begin to deride yourself internally.  Where does that come from?

Typically, it is self-made, it is your own opinion, as most of us in society are law abiding citizens, generally living harmonious lives.
If we constantly feel guilty about our actions and behaviours this will have an adverse effect on our health. 

Recently I read a very interesting book, Deepak Chopra's "Quantum Healing" which challenges the premise that it's only the brain that thinks.  Deepak Chopra refers to work completed by Dr Candace Pert, whereby she coined the phrase 'bodymind'.  From her research into neuropeptides, (neuropeptides are chemicals responsible for carrying messages from the brain to receptors in other parts of the body) Pert believes that their very existence demonstrates how the mind and body communicate.  These peptides can not only be found in the brain but also in the stomach, your muscles, your glands and all major organs, sending messages back and forth.  She coined the phrase 'bodymind' after years of revolutionary research and claims that emotion creates the bridge between mind and body.  She offered insight into how our minds, and how we think, can affect our body - the mind body connection, via the peptides and subsequent receptors, bridged by emotion, means that every part of us is affected by our thinking.

Thus, when you feel guilty it's not only in your mind, it can be in your kidneys, your liver, your stomach, etc.  Negative thoughts, therefore, can penetrate throughout your very being.  Imagine how that can affect your health?

Guilt is one of the most destructive of emotions.  We cannot get away from it easily as we have almost conditioned ourselves to listen to that inner voice of criticism.  It's the parent telling the child what to do, it's the installer of fear within us, it can be the inner voice of doubt when we make a decision as to whether this was the right decision?  It is viewing ourselves through the eyes of others and the belief that most people think ill of us.  We can all recall the physical sensation of guilt washing over us, can't we?  It starts at the top of your head and flows right down to the pit of your stomach creating a sickness sensation.  If we consume ourselves with the negative emotion of guilt continually then we are conditioning ourselves to feel inadequate in our own eyes which subsequently affects our health.  Why would we want to choose to do that? 
Shakespeare quoted in one of his famous poems, "but they whose guilt within their bosoms lie, imagine every eye beholds their blame".


Unless we are truly at fault for a serious misdemeanor, then why would we want to hold inside and persecute ourselves with such feelings as guilt?

How refreshing it would be to have a really high opinion of ourselves, to believe in ourselves and say 'hey, I'm not perfect, who is?' Who is that person to judge me anyway and why would I consider their opinion above my own? 

It is not impossible to rid yourself of that negative, internal voice, holding you back. 

One of the greatest releases of emotion came for me when I experienced Time Line Therapy™.  The guilt I had built up over the years was gnawing away at me without me even realising. It was so destructive and so negative for my well-being.  Negative emotions begin with a significant emotional event, then they build up over the years, almost without us realising what is happening.  This then determines why we react to certain situations in ways that sometimes we ourselves don't understand.  Time Line Therapy™ helped me rid myself of this negative emotion in one session, much more so than any confession, because the focus wasn't on what I had felt I had done wrong. Rather, it focused on what I have learned from that experience.  Focusing on the learnings can shift perception to bring about an amazing transformation of oneself, from an adult viewpoint.

Conditioning begins at a very early age and it can be difficult to change our values and our beliefs, which subsequently determine how we perceive life and how we react as a person.  Nevertheless, change can and does happen. We can begin to free ourselves from guilt today, easily and effortlessly. 

As a master practitioner of Time Line Therapy™ and Hypnotherapy I can help you free yourself of negative emotions such as guilt, to enable you to 'sweep away the cobwebs' of your past experiences and your unjustified beliefs about yourself.  If you need advice, why not post a comment to me today? 
I look forward to hearing your comments.  Until next time.

Maria