funny, isn't it?
i'm beginning to think that guilt is retarded in every way possible way.
guilt is that feeling or emotion that you get when you're caught doing something you weren't supposed to(stealing cookies, stealing cash, stealing whatever, killing whoever, etc.) or when you've done something really bad(look above for details) and your moral conscience starts to kick in.
this is guilt, as defined by the average dictionary; a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
well, at least that's what we're taught.
but i think guilt is more than just about being responsible. or about feeling and being remorseful. it's way worse than that. it's not an emotion or a feeling(or at least i'd rather not think it is anything of that sort.). but after thinking about it for awhile, i'd prefer to think that guilt is any of these two; a) a state of mind that is enforced by society or b) a destructive vicious cycle that consumes its victims.
what the abcdefg is option (a) talking about. well, it's gotta do with upbringing and environment.
think about the times when you were all lil' kids and your primary school teachers were the lord of the castle and i guess, pretty much the masters of your playground too(it's just an expression to say that they pretty much owned your ass), aside from your parents, that is. when teachers caught you(or your classmates) doing something that they thought was wrong, they would say something like, " (insert random name here)! you ought to be ashamed of yourself. you ought to be feeling guilty about it too. go stand in the corner! that's for (insert name of misdeed/wrongdoing/crime here)!"
and so this continues till you start to own your own playground(which is pretty much conditioned by years of experience with the school system/religious classes/parent's telling you to be a man/woman and do the right thing). and now, guilt is the standard response to you doing bad stuff, just like how fear is the standard response to seeing a python slither up your pants(chill yeah, it will never happen or at least, not in this lifetime.). so you see, my point is that you've been conditioned to feel guilty and in that case, does that mean that guilt exists, as a real emotion or feeling that you've so much about?
option (b)'s gonna sound a lot worse than option (a).
option (b). it's simple; you've done something wrong, you know you're dead wrong about whatever you've just done and so as a result of (a), you feel guilty. thing is, how do you respond to that guilt?
do you;
1)tell yourself that it's okay and it won't freaking happen again cos you swear to the Gods or God you believe in that you never ever do it again, whatever it may be.
2)curse and swear
3)go on a binge eating spree to get rid of the guilt.
4)go around feeling crappy for the whole day and take it out on people that you know and love.
5)write the damn thing in your new year's resolution and resolve to get rid of it.
if your standard responses to guilt are any of the above, i think you're doomed to fail, just like myself. let's just say you've started with (1), chances are that you'll be through with the whole list once i see you again next year. and perhaps, you might even have new options to add to the list. my theory is simple, you can get through (1) to (5) and yet, be unable to rid of your guilt and worse still, you might just end up doing whatever you did again. and again and again and again.
and that's precisely why i said that guilt is a destructive vicious cycle.
it's sad to know that guilt exists cos we mess around too much with stuff we weren't supposed to. but what saddens me more is the fact that there is no exact solution to guilt.
so now i'm gonna through choices (1) to (5) to wash away the guilt. see you in the morning when i'm done(i believe i would have reached(3) or (4) by then.).
guilt is that feeling or emotion that you get when you're caught doing something you weren't supposed to(stealing cookies, stealing cash, stealing whatever, killing whoever, etc.) or when you've done something really bad(look above for details) and your moral conscience starts to kick in.
this is guilt, as defined by the average dictionary; a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
well, at least that's what we're taught.
but i think guilt is more than just about being responsible. or about feeling and being remorseful. it's way worse than that. it's not an emotion or a feeling(or at least i'd rather not think it is anything of that sort.). but after thinking about it for awhile, i'd prefer to think that guilt is any of these two; a) a state of mind that is enforced by society or b) a destructive vicious cycle that consumes its victims.
what the abcdefg is option (a) talking about. well, it's gotta do with upbringing and environment.
think about the times when you were all lil' kids and your primary school teachers were the lord of the castle and i guess, pretty much the masters of your playground too(it's just an expression to say that they pretty much owned your ass), aside from your parents, that is. when teachers caught you(or your classmates) doing something that they thought was wrong, they would say something like, " (insert random name here)! you ought to be ashamed of yourself. you ought to be feeling guilty about it too. go stand in the corner! that's for (insert name of misdeed/wrongdoing/crime here)!"
and so this continues till you start to own your own playground(which is pretty much conditioned by years of experience with the school system/religious classes/parent's telling you to be a man/woman and do the right thing). and now, guilt is the standard response to you doing bad stuff, just like how fear is the standard response to seeing a python slither up your pants(chill yeah, it will never happen or at least, not in this lifetime.). so you see, my point is that you've been conditioned to feel guilty and in that case, does that mean that guilt exists, as a real emotion or feeling that you've so much about?
option (b)'s gonna sound a lot worse than option (a).
option (b). it's simple; you've done something wrong, you know you're dead wrong about whatever you've just done and so as a result of (a), you feel guilty. thing is, how do you respond to that guilt?
do you;
1)tell yourself that it's okay and it won't freaking happen again cos you swear to the Gods or God you believe in that you never ever do it again, whatever it may be.
2)curse and swear
3)go on a binge eating spree to get rid of the guilt.
4)go around feeling crappy for the whole day and take it out on people that you know and love.
5)write the damn thing in your new year's resolution and resolve to get rid of it.
if your standard responses to guilt are any of the above, i think you're doomed to fail, just like myself. let's just say you've started with (1), chances are that you'll be through with the whole list once i see you again next year. and perhaps, you might even have new options to add to the list. my theory is simple, you can get through (1) to (5) and yet, be unable to rid of your guilt and worse still, you might just end up doing whatever you did again. and again and again and again.
and that's precisely why i said that guilt is a destructive vicious cycle.
it's sad to know that guilt exists cos we mess around too much with stuff we weren't supposed to. but what saddens me more is the fact that there is no exact solution to guilt.
so now i'm gonna through choices (1) to (5) to wash away the guilt. see you in the morning when i'm done(i believe i would have reached(3) or (4) by then.).
posted by Alex at
7:20 AM
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