14th October 2010
Repentant tears wash out the stain of guilt.
Saint Aurelius Augustine
Human beings are a bundle of feelings and emotions. We do something and feel. Computers and machines merely do something but they don't feel. The ability to process feelings appropriately is very important to maintain our self image and confidence.
I am sure you've come across doing something for which you feel sorry. Sometimes you would have done something so foolish that you undergo a feeling of deep guilt. You may not be able to face others. You have to handle this situation since such a situation may also lead into mental depression depending on the what you did, who is involved and how you feel.
One best way to handle this situation is to replace the feeling of guilt by a feeling of lesser intensity which you can manage. For example replace the inner dialogue `I feel guilty to face others....' by `I feel sorry that I did this....'. You may not be aware, there is always an inner dialogue which is playing like a high fidelity tape recorder. The quality and content of this inner dialogue will decide your mental state and will influence your external behaviour.
A feeling of guilt may be difficult to handle, but if you feel sorry, its intensity may be less severe. When you feel guilty, you may not be able to face the people with whom you behaved in a particular way. But if you feel sorry, you may be able to face them and express regret to what happened.
Try this and notice the difference.
N C Sridharan
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