Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre  If you stop doing what makes you feel guilty because it feels so bad, isn't that a huge benefit?
And if you don't stop doing it and bad things happen, isn't that a negative result of not paying attention to the guilt? And if you don't feel guilty and nothing bad happens, isn't that a sign that what you did wasn't wrong in the first place, and not a sign that guilt itself is bad?
Can you think of anything negative that would come from the feeling of guilt itself as long as the guilty feeling was appropriate for your beliefs about the morality of your actions? In other words, can you think of any reason to suggest guilt is the problem, rather than what you try to do about that guilt? |
I myself feel guilty about things which I feel should not make me feel guilty. When I feel guilt over things which I feel should not produce guilt this leads to negative self talk and lowered self-esteem. So if I stop doing things which make me feel guilty I am really avoiding doing things which are normal and should not produce guilt in the first place and which are sometimes not even possible to avoid. To me this is negative. A perfect example is when I notice an underage girl's sexual appeal (16 years of age or what have you). This makes me feel guilty and wrong, but fact of the matter is that underage girls can still be sexually appealing. Is it something I should feel bad about? I don't think so, but I do anyways. This leads me to begin thinking there is something wrong with me mentally, when in reality it is just normal male response to stimuli.