The guilt trip

Was reading a travelogue and that got me thinking that people are always writing about interesting trips they make to far flung or remote places, but noone writes about the one trip we all make the most often..... yeah, that's right you got it from the title of this one.

See, we're all accomplished going down that route. Sometimes we do it with a bit of help - usually from those who our closest to us, like a spouse or a parent- urging us to take that road as though its a well deserved vacation. To accomplish that, the oft used phrases are: "I understand you were busy but you should have seen your son's face ..... he was SO sad..." Or... "No, no... don't worry about me... you guys go out and have fun... i'm just an old woman.... i'll be fine alone.... (siiigh...)"
Most effective, isn't it?

Of course, there are times we don't need that extra push. There are enough number of times we feel inexplicably guilty for things we couldn't have prevented anyway.

Why is that so? Is it because deep down inside we know that we didn't do/try enough? Is it because we love blaming ourselves? Well, if a friend was facing a similar situation, 9 times out of 10 we'd tell him that he's got no reason to feel guilty. He really did the best he could/couldn't have helped it/was not his fault.. and usually these aren't platitudes. We mean it.

Then how is it that when it comes to ourself, we can't apply the same clear headed logic?

Wish I could be as level headed when it came to such situations.
What irks me most is that this kind of thinking is the elast productive and simply wastes time and energy, which, anybody who knows me would know how much I abhor.

So, resolution number one for the year (yes, that's right, i haven't gotten down to making any resolutions yet, and it is indeed the end of Feb already), I shall not waste more than 5 minutes* on a guilt trip....



*I'm realistic. Black and white resolutions ultimately fail