Ditch the Guilt & Shame

Are Guilt And Shame Stopping You From Living Your Best Life?

How often did you feel guilt and shame when you were growing up – when you missed a curfew or your grades weren’t as good as they could be? How often were you made to feel bad about yourself and your actions against standards not set by you and then judged based on those standards? Wouldn’t it be great if we could just let go of the shame and the guilt? Imagine how much better we would deal with so-called mistakes! Think of how much more effectively we would be able to forgive ourselves for things that aren’t even our fault.

Guilt and shame are heavy.

These are emotions that weigh us down. They make us feel bad about ourselves and prevent us from exploring our true abilities, embracing our essential selves. We remain shackled so long as we feel guilt and shame about others’ expectations and their opinions of us. We’ve all grown up being made to feel guilty and shameful. My mother or my grandmother would have certain expectations of me and express their disapproval of something that I did or didn’t do. Not only would I feel shame at my behavior, but I would also feel guilt – like, how could I do this to my own loved ones?!

This happens to the extent that we internalize those emotions over time and start to guilt-trip ourselves! This keeps us from experiencing new things, recognizing and taking new opportunities, and just living life the way we want to. Guilt and shame are the way we were conditioned to respond. They are learned behaviors and so they can also be unlearned.

Letting go of the guilt and the shame.

As Lao Tzu wrote, the treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go. This is my favorite quote and letting go of the guilt and the shame is similar to this. When you ditch those negative emotions, you have a world of positivity to gain! You learn to forgive yourself for your imagined mistakes and move forward. You learn not to label things in ways that hamper your success and can then embrace your true abilities and creativity. When you let go of the shame and the guilt you make a steady progression towards fulfilling your authentic desires. You realize that you are worthy and you start to manifest success and love in your life.

Check out this episode to know how you can unlearn guilt and shame. To know more about my spiritual workshops, free resources, books, and the Inevitable U program, head on over to soulmanifesto.com. Join in the conversation and gain a wealth of wisdom from wherever you are in the world!