Guilt

Guilt, probably, is the worst of human emotions. It, unlike the other emotions, eats a person from inside until he is barely a shadow of his previous self. Guilt is the most powerful of the human emotions, beyond grief and surpassing shame. It is the feeling which can never be digested completely, cannot be shared and neither can ever be forgotten. It creeps like a shadow behind us and strikes us at the most unexpected of times.

Guilt and Shame go hand in hand. And it is shame which makes guilt worse. The difference between Shame and Guilt, on the surface is nothing but there exists a difference of world's between them. Shame is the feeling when something is done, which shouldn't be done and when you are caught in the act. Guilt is the feeling when something is done, which shouldn't be done and when you are not caught in the act. Shame is because of the outside world but guilt, on the other hand, is in the self. Shame comes from punishment. Guilt comes from forgiveness, or rather the inability to forgive oneself.

And that is precisely why guilt is sharper than shame. When you are caught doing something wrong, you get into a defensive mode and try to protect or forgive yourself. Lets say, you try to steal something and are caught in the process. You are punished for it but still you are far too ashamed of your act to act normally in the public. You find yourself inferior in the eyes of others for the act and this makes you not a part of being in the public. And guilt is a wound far too deep into yourself for your deeds. Lets take the same example of you stealing something but this time around you aren't caught. No one knows about your fault and even those who know forgive you for whatever you have done. That feeling hurts more than being punished. Being forgiven is probably the biggest curse that can be inflicted upon humans. It makes them feel guilty about their actions and also does not give them a chance to transfer their pain onto someone else. So, all that they can do is stab themselves with the dagger called Shame and which has been sharpened by Guilt.

It isn't that hard being an outcast in the society but it is not at all easy being an outcast of oneself. Those times when you hate yourself for whatever you have done, when no one punished you because they love you far too much for it and when you can't forgive yourself because you have broken your loved one's trust, their belief or their heart are the darkest moments of anyone's life.

And guilt has no remedies. You cannot take back your mistake once you have committed it and you can never forget it. The ancient law says that murder and infidelity have no punishments. Because the acts in themselves are prisons for the convicts. Any other crime can be punishable but when a person takes another person's life or breaks another person's heart, the person has dawned upon himself, Hell. He, who hath committed the sin has entered the darkest of the prisons of his mind and he knows he cannot payback for his actions.

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Guilt is that horrible feeling in your stomach and that stabbing pain in your heart when you know someone else is suffering for your faults.