my guilt list

okay

I am going to nip this in the bud

so to speak

The Guilt List

I feel guilty when.....

I don't bake enough

I don't have food prepared

for company in my freezer

When someone vents out loud I think it is my fault or somehow
I screwed up

I read too many books, am I lazy?

I should of hugged my boys more when they were little

Because, I am not much for hugging

When I don't have anything planned for the day, or several days

When I am not making friends

When I use money incorrectly 

When I do not have as much energy as other women seem to

When I cannot patch up the past and have to just live in the present

When my neck gets stiff and I once again have to slow down and relax

....and on and on it will go and it depends on the time of year

The Guilt Resolved List

in my senior retirement years I have resolved this.....

• My self-talk is positive

• My confidence is based on my Guilt List (above) - if no guilt ....I can move forward, plan some fun...et al

• Christmas comes around and I know I love buying a live tree and bringing it home and watching it thaw out to see what shape it will actually be.  Decorations are minimal.  I know once that tree is in the house the guilt about cooking, baking and performing traditional meals is always a work through process for me.  I don't feel guilty anymore because I know what I love that time of year.  Lights!  I speak my mind to my family about what I need this time of year and I know that it is appreciated - "Don't shrink, don't puff up, just stand my sacred ground!

my mother-in-law made a statement to me

many years ago when my boys were toddlers and I was really

not coping well.  She said "Donna, everything will pass in time". Sometimes

I remembered those words and sometimes I didn't.

• 
  

I know there is more guilt that crops up depending on

timely events and things misinterpreted among people

I trust myself and have a purpose in life to

be truthful to my nature and then things do fall into place

with guilt or no guilt.  We cannot get back to the past, even if I try I just can't get there!

Have you ever written down your guilt list?