Three Ways to Feel Less Guilty and More Worthy
One thing I’ve learned in my many conversations with women, is that we feel guilty. We feel guilty for EVERYTHING. And then we feel guilty for feeling guilty! A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog post (click here to read it!) about guilt and what guilty truly represents. Today I’d like to share a few actions steps you can take to feel less guilty, more worthy, and able to live your life with more JOY.
Stop saying you’re sorry for every little thing. Every time you apologize for something you’re not TRULY sorry for, you are belittling yourself. Each time you utter “I’m sorry” out of habit, you are telling yourself that THEIR needs are more important than your own. You’re telling yourself you are not WORTHY of having your desires respected. You’re telling yourself you’ve done something WRONG, but have you?? Just STOP. Learn to be unapologetic about what’s important to you (or not important to you!). Then when you DO say sorry and you DO truly regret something that has happened or that you’ve done, MEAN it. Authenticity goes a long way and I guarantee you will notice a difference in your confidence level when you replace an “I’m sorry I’m (two minutes) late” with a “thanks for meeting up with me, I’ve been so looking forward to seeing you!”
Be willing to admit what really truly want in your life and what you don’t. And then remind yourself that you are still ok and you are still worthy of living an amazing life, even if it doesn’t look like it’s directly out of Pinterest and if you could feed a small rodent off your kitchen floor. Who are you trying to prove something to anyway? There is NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. Somewhere along the way I learned to accept that I really hate spending hours on end attempting to keep up with housework and laundry. I no longer chastise myself for not desiring to spend my time that way (and for failing miserably when I tried to spend all my time doing just that). I learned to recognize that I am still valuable and having different values than someone else doesn’t make me FLAWED, it just makes me ME. And I’m really freaking grateful for great help!!
Recognize your intention, and then even when something’s gone awry, recognize that you acted from a place of love and forgive yourself. When you realize you haven’t acted with the best intentions (none of us are perfect!) remind yourself that you can do better next time, and forgive yourself. Clinging onto guilt like it’s a life raft is ridiculously unproductive! Feeling guilty changes NOTHING, it just robs you of joy. We were not put on this earth to wear guilt like a badge. We were put on this earth to LIVE and to LOVE and to MOVE FORWARD in the best way we know how.
With so much love,
Elsa