PETER RAGNAR / THE RAZOR'S EDGE: "Guilt - The Path to Slavery"

The Razor's Edge Newsletter For People Who Live Life in the Pursuit of Excellence: "Guilt - The Path to Slavery" by Peter Ragnar

Our conditioning is such that just by the title alone, one might protest, "Isn't acknowledging guilt a good thing? Don't we all have some measure of guilt?" If you feel this way, perhaps it might be beneficial to review who you listen to. There's a huge difference between guilt and regret. Guilt is the fact of having committed an offense by breaking a law. Now, that law might be one of convention - that is, what most folks think should be outlawed - or a law of nature, an entirely different matter.


"Regret, in contrast to guilt, is to be sorry or remorseful"




Regret can also be a sorrow caused by something beyond one's power to remedy. Regret can make us apologetic. Harriet Beecher Stowe writes, "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words unsaid and deeds left undone." How many of your regrets fall into this category? We regret not doing the little things that often make big differences.

"Guilt, on the other hand, is often the tool others use to manipulate us, to control us and make us feel impotent."

Guilt of some offense that carries with it the option of choice or the conscious acceptance of responsibility is entirely another matter. This is especially true in anything that harms or victimizes another, wherein we had the power to refrain from causing injury. When we experience a regret and acknowledge being guilty of failing to maintain our integrity, then the regret and guilt are honest and must be repaired.

"First, we must seek to uncover our motives of why we did what we did."

Next, if others are involved, acknowledge the error openly. Finally, commit yourself to a higher standard and get about your life. You must understand that one cannot drive their life looking into the rearview mirror without wrecking that precious opportunity to fully live.

"To be obsessed with guilt, consciously or unconsciously, is to become your own jailer."

How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh, I feel so guilty!"? You ask, "Guilty of what?" and no answer is forthcoming. Pretty much how many people feel when doing their taxes and fretting that somehow they've committed an offense. Don't worry; I'm certain you're probably guilty of something. The writer Claire Wolfe, author of I Am Not a Number and other colorful books, says, "Don't worry - you've broken some law, some where, and now you're an outlaw."

"The old number for laws on the books used to be somewhere over 250,000."
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[RodChristiansenTV]

Thanks, Peter!

Guilt for ability and virtues is always unearned and only your own sanction can empower it.