Easy Ways to Get Rid of the Guilt

Every time we go to the supermarket, my daughters want a cookie. My one-year-old is happy with the free sugar cookie the bakery offers children, but my four-year-old likes to have the giant M&M filled sugar cookie from the bakery. Sometimes, when she forgets she didn’t eat it all, I will finish it for her and then feel an immense amount of guilt over stealing half a cookie from a four-year-old. While my guilt probably isn’t as bad as the guilt many people feel for other reasons, we can all get a handle on our own guilt by following these simple steps.

Spill Your Secret

When you do something that makes you feel guilty, you only make yourself feel even guiltier when you keep it to yourself. For example, by telling my husband that I ate our daughter’s cookie and then tried to tell her she ate it all herself, I spilled my secret. When my husband told me he does the same thing all the time, I felt instantly better and my guilt was eased.

Apologize

If you do something really offensive and feel guilty about it, simply apologize. You will feel better offering your apology to someone else, and they may accept your apology, which will allow you to put the entire thing behind you.

Get a Grip on Reality

Are you feeling guilty for something you shouldn’t feel guilty about? Many times, people feel guilty about things because of their own expectations. For example, your sister is mom of the year: she makes her kids a healthy, homemade breakfast every morning, exercises, takes them to the park, reads to them, and makes them practice their handwriting on a daily basis in between sports team practices. You barely have enough energy to microwave a frozen waffle for your own kids. Does that make you feel guilty? It shouldn’t; as long as everyone is healthy and happy, you’re doing your job. You don’t have to be as perfect as others to be doing it right.

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