In this run-up to Christmas, I want to talk to you about the word ‘Guilt’. This is a word I hear a lot and people saying “I feel guilty about eating this, I feel guilty for having drunk that, I feel guilty for doing X, Y or Z.”
We seem to carry a lot of guilt around with us especially as we come into this festive period, because the festive period is usually accompanied by a lot of celebration and a lot of excess.
Claire explains more in her video below…
We’re actively encouraged to eat the extra mince pie, to have an extra slice of cheese, to have an extra glass of wine, and so on and so forth. This can start to really create havoc in our mind.
Yet guilt – if we were to really think about it – guilt is this idea that we have done something wrong. So what I really want to say to you is this – have you really done something wrong if you’ve eaten something a little bit extra?
Really think about it, because we’re encouraged to live this excessive time and excessive period as a way of celebrating. We might see people more than we usually do, go out more that we usually do, and the shops are full of food.
So, if you are feeling any level of guilt, then examine the rules that you are holding in your head. What I mean by this is, if you have a rule in your head that you can’t eat this, and you can’t eat that and you have to behave in a certain way, you’re then going to feel guilty if you don’t live up that rule.
An example could be; you’re working out, you’re going to the gym and you have a trainer who is making you eat a certain diet and that diet doesn’t really fit in to drinking lots and eating loads of mince pies etc. So when you do, you feel guilty because you have broken the rule that you are holding.
You have two options – you can stick with the rule you have and therefore you say ‘I’m not eating or drinking any of the Christmas fare’ or you can say ‘Sod it’ and you change your rule and allow yourself to eat, drink and be merry. Therefore you don’t feel guilty because ultimately, really and truly, guilt is an incredibly wasteful emotion.
Unless you have actually done something bad and you can say sorry there isn’t a great deal of point in harbouring this guilt. So change your rule and don’t feel guilty. It makes life a hell of a lot easier.
Have a good think about it. See what rules you’re holding. Decide if you want to change those rules or if you want to keep them. If you’re keeping them, stick to them. If you change them, enjoy the celebrations and have fun and drop the guilt.
Have a wonderful festive season and a very merry Christmas…