Shame and Guilt, they have a lot to say in our world today. They act like they control the whole of humanity and some would say they really do… but I would like to change that in this post.

How do we start to recognize the voices of Shame and Guilt and get rid of the input that they have in our lives?

Great Question!
1. Shame and Guilt Says “I Am Something Wrong.”
We all know that we can do something wrong, but when we listen to Shame and Guilt, we start to believe that we are the thing that is wrong. If we can recognize this in the way that we think about ourselves, than we can start getting rid of the false voices that say otherwise.
Often times Shame and Guilt are very sneaky when they speak and it’s almost always through our thoughts toward ourselves. It’s so subtle that we miss it a lot. We can’t allow them to have a say in our thinking, our life, or our identity. What we believe about ourselves comes straight from our thought life. A few great questions to ask ourselves and identify if Shame and Guilt have control in our lives are: Who do I believe I am? Who do I think I am? What do I do to/for myself that tells me more about myself? How we answer these is a sign if we are living with Guilt and Shame.

Guilt and Shame have a false sense of control and power, and we let them have it. They talk us into actually feeling like the problem is always us, as if we have control over people’s emotions and made them feel a certain way.
The voice of Shame and Guilt sound like they are legitimate, but they’re the illegitimate sons of an illegitimate man.

I believe that when we listen to what Shame and Guilt have to say, we start acting out of impulse and fear of how we’ll affect the people around us instead of how we are living our personal lives.
2. We Are Not What We Eat.
Obviously this point isn’t about eating, it’s about the thoughts that we “feed” ourselves.
To further hit a point that I made in the beginning – we do things that can affect people in the wrong way, but those times don’t dictate who we are. Often times as a society we mistake someone’s actions for their character. We often forget that forgiveness is not a one time deal, but it’s a never-ending posture that sees the person instead of the mistake. Some of you reading this probably need to look past your own mistakes and look at who you really are and forgive yourself.

How we digest our thoughts will speak through our actions. I have a choice everyday, whether or not I’m going to eat the thoughts from Shame and Guilt, or if I’m going to spit them out. Once I spit them out, I lift a weight off of my shoulders that I was never meant to carry.
3. “We Can Fly, We Can Fly, We Can Fly!”
What caused Wendy, James and John the ability to fly to Neverland?
It wasn’t just “Faith, trust and Pixie dust.” They had to think happy thoughts! If we have happy thoughts about ourselves, we’ll start to go places that we never thought were possible. All we need to do is change the way we think about ourselves. It’s really that simple.

Say what you want about Peter Pan, but he always found a way to enjoy his life, have fun, and think highly of himself.
What are you going to do that causes you to change your thoughts into happy thoughts and causes you to soar like never before?
We can start to recognize the voices that Shame and Guilt have, but we can’t move forward in life if we still listen to them. The negative thoughts that are in our lives actually keep us from enjoying life to the fullest.
4. Shame and Guilt causes us to doubt who we are.
Doubt Keeps Us From Our Destiny. To stick with the Peter Pan analogy, The time when Peter almost lost the battle against Captain Hook, was when he started to doubt himself and his ability to fulfill his destiny.
Just watch that part of the movie (the original animated Disney film) to see and know the thought process that Peter is having in that instant. Replay the moment with me – Tink is almost dead, Wendy, James, and John are captured with the Lost Boys on the Jolly Roger, and nobody can save them but Peter Pan… While all of that is going on, he starts to really question if he’s really a hero or not and if the battle is lost. Notice the progression from that process, to the huge turnaround that happens in a matter of minutes! Though all of this is verbal in the moment (for theatrical enjoyment) his voice, mood, and behavior all change the moment he changed the way he thought about himself and the situation he was in.

Our greatest triumphs are on the other side of our greatest doubts.
Shame and Guilt speak doubt into our minds that causes us to lose sight of our destiny. They often use our failures as their greatest weapon against our destiny. Peter Pan almost let his failure of letting Wendy and friends getting captured, turn into the ultimate failure of not being the person he really is. When doubts come into our mind, they always question who we are and who we are meant to be. When we listen to those doubts and lose sight of ourselves, we let a minor failure turn into a big failure.

And this leads me to my last point.

5. There IS Hope.
Some of our biggest failures can be the beginning of our greatest successes.
Don’t just stop at your failures, make them learning moments.
When we learn from our mistakes and decide not to listen to the doubts that Shame and Guilt cause, we create something that is super special – Second Chances. There’s always a second chance at the end of what we do letting our thought life, words and actions be filled with hope. This process of finding the voices that have power in our life and which ones to get rid of is a lengthy process, but its worth it. You have to give yourself time to work through everything that comes up when you start this journey. Stay hope-full and you’ll go far in life.

Remember, when it comes to Guilt and Shame:
You are not your actions. Your destiny is on the other side of your doubts. Think happy thoughts. Believe the best in yourself. ALWAYS stay hopeful.