Guilt - the sticking plaster of life....

The sticking plaster of life.. it strikes me as such a brilliant phrase, because feeling guilty is just so time-consuming.

So I have resolved to banish guilt. It is the most destructive and paralyzing of emotions and I don’t have time for it any more. Without guilt I am going to have so much time in my life for doing the things I want to do (write a novel, redesign the garden, make my fortune, travel, the list goes on.) I don’t have the luxury of thinking “That’s probably something I will do .. one day..”  because, whatever happens, I am way past the middle of my life and I need to get on with it.

I am advised that this is the way to banish guilt:

Write a list of the things you worry about - that you should or should not have done:

Broken your diet

Shouted at your children

Been vile to your mother

Told a lie because you thought it was kinder than the truth

Overspent
Start a Blog :)

Committed yourself to doing something and not done it

When the list is done – it won’t be done for ever, this process may have to be repeated frequently –it must be read several times, and I’ll will myself not to be so unpleasant/insincere/rude/unfair in future. Then I will take the piece of paper outside with a box of matches, set fire to it, and watch it go. Alternatively  it can be put it on the fire (not so dramatic) or through a shredder.

It isn’t that those crimes don’t matter, because they do – but it’s a waste of time to go on fretting about them for ever.