How To Deal With Guilt And Finding Solutions

Guilt and regret after doing something bad in the past may last for a long time if there are no solutions to deal with them. Gradually, guilt can have a pessimistic effect on mental and physical health. Therefore, searching for a way to deal with guilt will be essential to heal oneself and avoid unhealthy mental and physical influences in the future.

Find source of guiltiness 

The most important thing in reducing guilt is to find out the real source of that guilt. It could be a bad experience you accidentally caused, or the consequences that followed your mistake were worse than you thought, affecting an entire group of people or organization.

Finding out the source of the guilt gives you the foundation to solve the problem. This process may take time and effort because not everyone has the courage to look directly at the problem. However, "weeds must be uprooted." You can solve the issue only when you understand your own mistake.

Refresh the living surroundings 

Guilt is likely to linger in your heart even after you have addressed it. This feeling rarely goes away quickly, especially if the consequences of the mistake are serious and affect many people. During this period, changing your living space a little can be an ideal and effective choice to help refresh your soul and somewhat ease the outstanding problems. This could involve changing the layout of your bedroom, rearranging your desk or bookshelf, as long as it is a familiar space for you. If possible, planning a short trip to relax would be an ideal choice to heal both mentally and physically.

Get distractions from your activities

One way to help you reduce negative emotions in your heart is to distract yourself, so that you won't have time to think about sad things anymore. You can develop a new habit like reading, exercising, or a new language to fill in the self-tormenting time at home.

In addition, you can also try participating in charitable activities, volunteering for the community in your area, school or cooperative units. "Giving" is a form of emotion that can make people feel at ease, thereby somewhat alleviating feelings of guilt. Participating in activities to help those in need will partly help you realize your worth, your abilities, thereby reducing the accumulated guilt.

Express sincere repentance 

When you make a mistake, it is likely that specific individuals will be affected. It is important to sincerely apologize to those who were impacted with all your heart. Let them know that you understand how much your actions hurt them more than anyone else. Do not hesitate to say it directly, as what is important is to show your sincerity. It’s always good to own up one’s mistake, so when you express your sincere apology, they may not forgive you immediately, but they will understand. A sincere apology can be a potential opportunity for finding peace of mind, both for yourself and for others.

Face and respect your own feelings

Repentance is a feeling everyone will experience from time to time, because it is instinctive after making a mistake. Respect that feeling and allow yourself to "blame yourself" but not for too long. Because as mentioned above, guilt in the long run can easily lead to many consequences that are difficult to control in terms of health and spirit. Expressing repentance is a way to learn how to deal with your mistakes; to know how to sincerely apologize and also to learn for further experience. The most important thing in self-healing is to respect your feelings and be honest with them. Only by facing reality with honesty can you find inner peace.

Basically, guilt is positive because it reflects the "human" part of an individual. Only when there is guilt, there is empathy, sharing and opportunity for positive changes to be produced. Depending on how each person receives it, negative emotions can be beneficial for personal development. Respect it and be honest with yourself so that guilt doesn't become more toxic. On the contrary, it will become a meaningful life lesson for yourself. 

In conclusion, CHUS hopes that with tips given above, you may find them useful to deal with guilt and from there, you can find a way to heal the mind.