Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Dealing with What You Did - 9 Techniques to Manage a Guilty Conscience

By James Warrington


If you've ever had a guilty conscience, you know how complicated it can be to go on with your own life the same as before the event that caused your guilt. Taking action to help you make up for the harmful event or even put it in your past can help you manage your guilt and move ahead with more positivity.

Consider applying these strategies to help you deal with a guilty conscience:

1 . Come clean. If you can go to the person you wronged, completely realizing and accepting what might happen to your relationship, you may be able to clear your conscience.

* However , if you have a guilty conscience, it's usually because you committed a grave mistake against someone you truly love and care about. You may feel as if you can never come clean with that person because of possible consequences.

* If you're likely to pick this method, look at it thoroughly before you implement it. Reflect both on how this particular information will affect the one you wronged as well as how coming clean will certainly affect you. It may be better to use the written word.

2 . Write down your misdeed and an apology. Read it aloud to the person, or give it to him to read.

3. Admit to yourself that you're human. Be truthful with yourself about what you did. Then, recognize that everyone can make errors and that your objective is to refrain from creating the same mistake again.

4. Learn from it. Spend some time thinking about the event and the mistake you made. Put yourself back into that mindset and ask yourself, "Why did I do it? " Recognize where you were emotionally at the time and how damaging that "place" was for you. What can you learn from the encounter?

5. Find spiritual consult. If you belong to a religion that motivates confession and reconciliation, follow through with it! It is truly uplifting and encourages healing from your wounds.

6. Invest some time performing volunteer work. If you feel you must do something in order to "cancel out" the act you committed, plan time to do some humanitarian work in your community. It may be addressing envelopes for a nearby charitable organization to deliver flyers or responding to a local organization's phones for 2 hours per week.

* Remind yourself that you are "paying" for your misdeed by doing good things for others. Be positive.

7. Concentrate on accomplishing one good deed each day. Maybe you can provide your neighbor a lift to work. Or you can wash your dad's car. Look around you. You'll see people everywhere doing day-to-day responsibilities. Jump in and assist them. It will really feel wonderful and restore your faith in yourself and your positive actions.

8. Donate money to a cause you believe in. Whether it's to help the Haitians get on their feet or to give toward the restoring of New Orleans, give a decent amount of change to assuage your conscience. Will it help? It will certainly create a good difference to someone, probably to you as well.

* Recognize within yourself, "I am giving this funds to show I'm still a decent person, even though I made a grievous mistake. "

9. Visit a therapist or counselor. If you think you are about to explode from the weight of your error, it might be time to speak to a specialist about it. Therapists are expected to respect your privacy within limits as specified by your state. You will be surprised at how great it feels to say out loud what you did.

* A therapist can help you in dealing better with your feelings, learning to leave the mistake behind you, and grow to be a much better person for it.

Coping successfully with a guilty conscience will take time and diligence on your part. Set to work applying the above methods. You'll be glad you did!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment