Sometimes I may experience nagging self-reproach about not living up to expectations. Maybe other people are reinforcing such a belief or maybe I’ve assimilated it from my culture.

“I should give more. I should do more. I should be more. I should’ve done better in the past.” These thoughts might gnaw at me no matter what action I take to appease them.

The reason that guilt feels so bad is that it’s utterly contrary to the way my adoring divine inner being views me. The pain of guilt alerts me that I am not aligned with my inner wisdom in this area and thus I’m partially closing valves through which my well-being reaches me. Nothing I consider good can come from that.

I’m learning to rearrange my life around a brand new “should”: I should feel joyful, peaceful, and free. And I do that by thinking thoughts of joy, peace, and freedom, and then taking action from that happy place.

Nobody benefits from my guilt, especially not me. When I perform any task out of burdensome responsibility, weighty duty, or fear of what someone will think, it will not have the desired effect long-term.

The things that I’m truly “supposed to do” are the things that make my heart sing. They’re happily calling to me now. They make me feel light-hearted, exhilarated. They are my gift to the world, and they are my gift to me.

As I relinquish the guilt, I find them.

--Soulsong #481