Why Do I Feel Guilty?
Before we can start to understand the why behind the guilt, lets first define it. Guilt means that we believe that something we are doing is causing pain to someone else. Its activated by our behavior, thoughts, or feelings that we judge to be wrong or bad.
Normal parents are protective of their children. But what if your parents were overprotective? What if every time you played sports, rode your bike, or roughhoused with friends, your parentat bestbecame disturbed andat worstfrantic? Watch out, youll get hurt! Youll break a leg! and so on. Would you have interpreted that as interest in your well being, or rather, believed that you were hurting your parents by your sense of adventure and fun? Children who think that their actions are causing pain for their parents will feel guilt.
Let me be clear. Im not talking about a parents normal range of caution and concern. I am talking about extreme caution and worry over small risks. But if you grew up always experiencing irrational guilt about worrying an overprotective parent, youll also experience guilt in response to risks as an adult. Youll feel frustrated by your excessive sense...