Live Guilt Free Blog

These are rough times right now – there are lots of ways that we can be divided and sorted into groups (many not of our choosing) and it is during this time that it is easy to fall back into wanting to comply and fit in, to be part of the crowd again.

But a healthy crowd, a healthy society is never based on us all being the same – it truly is your uniqueness that the world needs right now, not your compliance.

Every time someone tries to guilt you back into your place, back into your box, it is showing that they see your power, your ability to not need their approval and so they try to force it onto you. Don’t let them. Stay in the arena with us, because there are far many unique people who want to know you than those who want you to fit in.

Have you heard this before? It is guilt trip 101 – frame the guilt as an emotion that places blame and responsibility on the person it is directed to. Why does it work? Because we fear disconnection. We fear being isolated and cast out – and people being disappointed with us hints as lack of trust, or lack of belief in us. Our need to please others and keep them happy with us makes us take action and make choices against our own self interest.

You are never a disappointment for being you.

When you have a cause that is close to your heart, you can be passionate about helping people see your point of view. Whether it is politics, society, health, wealth, animals … however worthy what you have to say is, if you wrap it in guilt-inducing, passive aggressive statements or judgments, you will not win your argument. Instead, you will alienate those whose minds you want to change. 

I know how difficult it is to get the balance right and how emotionally draining it can be to care about something so much but that others seem to easily ignore – but screaming louder isn’t a good use of your energy. Make it easier and gentler for people to come along with you, which is far more successful than having them there because they feel guilty.

The most powerful thing about living guilt free is being able to control your responses to the world around you.

When you are constantly listening to others for their opinions on your life, there is a sense that you have to respond or defend yourself all of the time. This keeps you on their terms, in their corner. Don’t let them.

If someone throws an accusation at you, your instinct will be to try to defend yourself, or crack a joke or to react with something. The most powerful response you can give is to stand in your own power. accept their right to have an opinion, but accept your right to not give a damn. 

“That is your opinion but I’m happy with what I am” is the most effective and powerful ways to live guilt free. The way you live your life won’t gel with everyone else’s viewpoints – but why would that matter? You have to live your life, not them.

Ah, FaceApp. You have been having a great time, getting everyone on social media to see what they will look like when they get older. I mean, at one point, literally my entire feed was everyone ‘having fun’ and being joyful of how they look.

Does this mean the end of all anti-ageing treatments, cosmetics, surgery? After all, it’s fun to see yourself getting old, isn’t it?

I happen to think it really is. So many people don’t get to be old, and yet advertisers spend a fortune with guilt trips, telling people that once they are old they are past it, no longer useful, no longer beautiful and they need products and treatments to be acceptable to the rest of us. Rubbish. You living a full, happy, purposeful life, being human and kind and generous and giving? We think you are amazing.

If you are going to create the pics then I urge you, I beg you – hold on to it to see how absolutely GORGEOUS an older you looks. It’s what we need in the world.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gkzyk-d214e5

Neela Prabhu is the owner of Homeopathic Harmony, and has had a remarkable journey through mental health challenges, family dynamics and forging her own path in the world.  She is a true example of living guilt free and in this episode, she breaks it down into the steps she herself uses to keep making her own decisions and choices, and not reverting back to what others want her to do.

To contact Neela, you can go to her website:

www.homeopathicharmony.co.uk 

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-d5fjz-cf2073

*Trigger warning:  This episode is an interview with a sufferer of an eating disorder.  We go through details of her particular challenges and some may find it triggering or distressing so please exercise caution when listening.  If you or someone you know struggles with the relationship with food, please look at the links below to get the help and support you need.*

Kerry Manning is a Membership Project Office for the charity Stonewall and also happens to be my niece.  She has always struggled with her relationship with food and I am delighted that she decided to share her story and her ongoing recovery with me.  It was a really difficult episode to make, but she hopes that by speaking about it, others will recognise the signs and get help so that it does not have the same effect on their lives.

We talk about a number of resources that Kerry uses to help manage her ongoing recovery.  The links are below.

BEAT – The UK’s Eating Disorder Charity:  https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

Christy Hamilton – The Food Psych Podcast:  https://christyharrison.com › foodpsych

Be Nourished – https://benourished.org