The True You Shines: Let Go of Guilt and Shame

Guilt is about doing or not doing something. It’s about action.Shame moves beyond simple action to identification. Sometimes we confuse guilt and shame. We think that they are the same thing or that they are linked together. For some, guilt is connected to doing something wrong, to being at fault or doing something they regret. For others, guilt is a passing feeling that’s related to responsibility. Shame, on the other hand, is harder to define. It’s typically experienced as an inner feeling having mostly to do with yourself rather than others, although its origin often lies outside yourself. Instead of the sense of having done or failed to do something to someone else, it’s about something that was done to you that made you feel ashamed. Shame also exists on different levels. That is the deep paralysing shame that prevents you from growing, but there is also a healthy sense of shame that’s similar to guilt in that it’s about something you can change.