On Purpose

We live in a guilt-ridden society: a society of people who are repressed and controlled by guilt.

What is “guilt” or “feeling guilty”? It means to experience negative emotions about oneself, due to the negative impact of our thoughts, actions, and way of being.

I agree that all human beings have legitimate reasons to feel bad about ourselves — our ignorant nature, our laziness, our destruction of the environment, the list goes on…

However, we live in a society that simply “chooses to feel guilty.” The problem with guilt is this: no amount of guilt can change or reverse the negative impact. Many of us like to believe that “feeling guilty” is enough of a punishment. But that’s completely false.

You see, the more you fall into a pit of guilt, the lower your self-esteem falls. And so, you uncontrollably continue to do “bad things” (whether it be littering, gossiping, etc.) because your subconscious truly believes that this is the type of person you are. You will continue to feed your conscious mind with guilt in order to “make up” for the consequences. And you fall into a viscous cycle of self-sabotage.

If you are feeling guilty then you really only have two options:

1. Change your behavior — become a better person. Or,
2. Change your state of mind — have total faith and confidence in everything you do.

Authority figures, religious figures, the media, anyone trying to take your money, uses guilt as a form of control. Distance yourself from anyone or anything that believes fear and shame will make you a better person. That’s totally wrong — inspiration and faith is what makes someone better.

How many times have you heard people say, “yeah, I really shouldn’t do this, but I do it anyway.” Or how many times have you heard people constantly apologizing for things totally beyond their control? Either use the guilt to make a change or let it go. If you pick the third option — to let it swallow you whole — then you are taking the easy way out and causing even more problems for yourself and those around you.

Let everything you do be done with purpose. Do not do anything halfway. If you want to get a project done, don’t just start it and then give up. If you want to talk to someone, don’t just walk up to them like you’re about to say something and then turn around. Make a choice and stick with it — believe in your choices. Either do something with no guilt or hesitation, or don’t do it at all.