Guilt is a five letter word

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/07/asguilt-the-5-letter-word-for-a-conscience/

Some say love, some say money. But the truth is, it’s guilt that makes the world go round!
Guilt – that five letter word for a conscience. It’s the fine line between monogamy and the extra….it’s what keeps the ring on the finger. It’s the ongoing never-ending war between the stay at home mom and the career woman…it’s what keeps the poor on the streets but out of prison and brings the rich to orphanages to make a donation… It’s the difference between pleasant conversation and rambled justification….that distinction between greed and ambition!

Guilt – it’s suppressible, but not always. Some people are blessed with the ability to do so. In which case they cloak it in the shroud of their career, true love or family. In complex words like career, empowerment, me-time, spiritual journey.
Guilt. The world depends on it. It survives on it.
Human goodness, common courtesy, decent behaviour are all offshoots whose roots lie in guilt.
Guilt and its partner in crime….fear. Fear of role reversal. What if this happened to me? Why was I spared? What you sow, so you shall reap. Childhood moral science lessons, naughty corners and detention, all tools to keep us good.

The guilt of how our actions affect the ones we love, and whether it’s worth chasing our every whim and desire, of doing as we please, saying what we want, going where we choose at the cost of forever altering our relation with them.
Most often it gets encouragement from the feel good emotion we are programmed to experience, of social praise and credit for doing the right thing.

Like all good things guilt is a great driving force when experienced in moderation. It’s the barometer of our conscience. Excess of it suffocates us and leads to resentment. Lack of it leads to a selfish existence. Blessed are those who can walk the tightrope!! Guilt – it doesn’t always mean shame and regret, it’s wrongly accused of being bad when most often it’s the positive force that helps us remain good!