Lesson 39

Today's lesson asks what is the opposite of guilt.

To begin with I had no real answer, non guilt isn't a real thing, and in the modern world innocence is the opposite. But as an emotion is this really the opposite to guilt. Guilty feelings cling onto our minds and slowly eat away, changing our moods and making us view our daily lives in a totally different way. By shaking off these guilty feelings our minds have freedom, we no longer blame ourselves for actions which in the vast majority of times are way out of our control.

I often look back at events which still cause me anguish and nearly always I am still carrying guilt as a result. Surley if you breakdown these situations it is obvious there is no guilt to be had.

When my son was born he was born with a serious illness which, put harshly, nearly killed him. I carried around guilt for years, I believed as his mother I should have known. Because I spent years feeling guilty I then thought I was not an amazing mother because I was consumed with guilt, it was just spiralling out of control. No one was to blame, certainly not me, medical professionals missed his illness so did midwives, so how on earth could a first time mum who had a traumatic labour have had spotted it. At the time you could have told me this a thousand times but guilt was such a strong emotion it took over and I blamed myself over and over again.

My interpretation is that freedom of the mind is the opposite of guilt.