Do you struggle with false guilt?
2 May

Do you struggle with false guilt?

Do you struggle with false guilt? Who hasn’t struggles with guilt? Yet, neither true guilt nor false guilt is good for our well-being.

When was the last time you turned down a dinner invitation…from family or friends? How did you go about saying no? What did it feel like to say no? Did you feel any guilt? If so, how long did the guilt linger?  Have you ever thought about what guilt is and if it’s reasonable? Did you know that most of our guilt is false guilt? False guilt, is guilt that’s unreasonable because we didn’t do anything wrong.

Guilt can be reasonable or unreasonable and can even lead to shame. Guilt is a deep feeling of regret, remorse or responsibility for something. It comes from the judging mind of negative, unhealthy trapped energy. This internal resistance can get in the way of healing if it’s not dealt with in a healthy way.

True guilt is reasonable and unhealthy. It comes from going against your own principles or convictions such as: lying or cheating. The steps to heal the true guilt is to: confess it, repent of it, show remorse, and pay restitution whenever possible. This clears the debt, whether or not the person wronged forgives you. It’s then, your responsibility to forgive yourself and let it go. The debt is paid. As Maya Angelou always put it …. “when you know better, you do better”.

On the contrary, false guilt is unreasonable and is also unhealthy. It’s when you didn’t do anything wrong, yet you feel guilty. Maybe you didn’t live up to yours or other’s expectations. The root of false guilt is fear. The way to heal it comes from accepting that it was an unrealistic expectation, that you did nothing wrong, and your job is to let it go. It’s a lie…. a false belief. You may have even been taught it by well-meaning people in your life who believed it, but it’s still false.

Sometimes it helps to share your thoughts with someone safe and to remember to give it back to God. He has the mercy you need to set you free. If you didn’t do anything wrong, you need to release it. As the Frozen movie song lyrics say…let it go; even the kids today know it’s important to let it go.

The next time you feel guilt or shame, ask yourself “Did I do anything wrong”? If you did, then you should take the healthy steps to heal it as stated above; otherwise, break free by letting it go.  Click the email link below if you’re ready to break free.  Thanks for your interest in Breaking Free Boundaries.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. Please share it with someone else. It may be exactly what they need to hear to be free too. Come back for next month’s blog and…

Checkout my new 2024 online course to “Find and Free Yourself”: https://breakingfreeboundaries.com/courses/

Online Course Overview: The key to end suffering and unhappiness is to break free from the busy mind. This course focuses on how you can gain authority over your life by learning how to quiet your mind. You will learn how to recognize, neutralize, and move beyond the voice of fear and doubt. The purpose here is to teach you how to live in freedom and inner peace all the time.

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About the Author – Trina Carroll-Houk is a spiritual teacher, counselor, and founder of Breaking Free Boundaries, LLC who specializes in self-awareness, mindfulness, and the spiritual dimension of being. Her goal is to help people improve their quality of life so they can experience inner peace, meaningful purpose, and fulfillment. Trina represents a movement focused on helping people release what limits them from transforming into awakened beings with a higher sense of spiritual consciousness.

Checkout Trina’s book on most online retail sites such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or BookBaby Bookshop: “Breaking Free from the Ego: A Course in Finding and Freeing Yourself.”