Your guilty conscience and you

[CuddlyCombine]

First off, I'd like to ask people to reply to this thread honestly. You don't have to lie or make yourself look better; anyone who judges you for not being a saint is being unrealistic.

Anyway, related to that above sentence, I was thinking today about asking you guys this question, simply because, to each other, we are just computer screens. I could be an advanced computer program, for all you know. So, given this unprecedented level of anonymity, I want to ask you something personal.

How does your guilty conscience affect you? Traditionally, were I to pose this to someone standing right in front of them, they would most likely lie to me and make themselves look good. But your guilty conscience is more often than not a very large factor in how you behave and hold yourself. Guilt and morals are often very hard to be honest about.

For example, I myself feel guilty for doing so much as skipping a class. Granted, this guilt diminishes if the teacher gets angry afterwards or is unreasonable, but I still hate doing it. Anything I can do that will cause discomfort to others is pretty much quarantined by my mind. However, others will skip with wholehearted abandon, either because they don't care or can waive their guilt.

So, how do you handle such feelings and situations?

 

[Caimekaze]

I dislike guilt. It makes me feel uncomfortable, distressed and nervous.

Hence, my guilty conscience rules heavily on my actions. I tend to behave exceptionally well, so that I don't feel guilty about anything.
If something I do has repercussions that affect people in a negative way that I had not foreseen, I do my best to make it up to them as I hate hurting people.

 

[sky14kemea]

actually funny story, im meant to be off sick today from work >_>
i feel a little guilty, because its nothing serious, i always get nauseous when i wake up XD

but yeah i usually feel pretty guilty for small things, but i get over it quickly enough
but for big things, i can feel guilty for days

edit: i might go in to work soon, if i feel any better XD

 

[SharPhoe]

Oh yeah. My conscience hounds me about practically EVERYTHING. I tend to stay on the straight and narrow because of it.

 

[NeutralDrow]

...I'm actually not sure how to answer the question. Depending on the offense I feel I might have committed, I might either try to make amends or just hope it isn't discovered and distract myself to get over the anxiety.

 

[Zer_]

Well I've been turned on by an under aged girl who was coming on to me. She was in her late teens. Her being my friend's young cousin didn't help much either. I swear the whole time all I could think was how wrong it felt. Deep down inside I knew that nothing would happen, but it still made me feel uncomfortable.

 

[megapenguinx]

By playing RB/GH. No seriously for some reason playing those games relaxes me and lets me think

 

[twistedshadows]

I always try to follow what I personally feel is the right thing to do. If I'm unable to do so or if I stray and feel guilty over some occurrence, I try to make amends. If I can't fix the situation, I try to get on with my life as nothing I can do will set it straight.

 

[Lost In The Void]

I don't usually feel guilt. It has to be something pretty damned bad before I feel anything. I wish I was lying I've been called heartless more times then I can count. Then again I'm going to become a lawyer so maybe it's a blessing in disguise

 

[Skeleon]

If it's something minor, I can make myself forget about it.
Bigger things gnaw at me and I have to come clean.

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

I make a habit of betraying myself.
That includes my conscience, any and all gut feelings, the urge to hurt people, the urge to not hurt people etc.

I can be very unpredictable at times...

 

[CuddlyCombine]

Oh yeah. My conscience hounds me about practically EVERYTHING. I tend to stay on the straight and narrow because of it.

I do this too, though I'm a bit bothered by it. I mean, I can't figure out whether I keep my distance from trouble because I'm a genuinely 'good person' or because I just don't want to have the inconvenience of feeling bad. It seems utilitarian, and I dislike that.

I generally don't feel overly guilty unless I do something which, in my eyes, is something that a good person wouldn't do.

How does one define a 'good person', though? Someone who is celibate and lives at a monastery? Or just someone who makes mistakes but does so in a human capacity? Personally, I'm not sure how I would define one, seeing how it's all subjective.

I won't deny having played with a couple of girl's hearts before, not completely intenionally but the element was in there, and I still feel guilty over that.

God, amen. Toying with people's feelings is probably the worst thing I've ever done. Never again. I'll never know why I did, either. All I know is that hearing the tone in their voice when they tell you how disappointing you are is probably the worst thing you can experience short of waterboarding. The best example I have is probably this one time I made out with my best friend's sister without his knowing; then, for the week or so it took for me to muster the courage to tell him, I felt physically sick to my stomach for what I had done. Stupid hormones.

Some of the things I did to my mum when I was a kid, making her buy me stuff, etc., I feel guilty about today because I realize I was being an incredibly selfish little shit. But I was a kid, so you know.

Well, kids are all sociopaths in nature, really.

Nice thread choice.

Thanks.

By playing RB/GH. No seriously for some reason playing those games relaxes me and lets me think

Well, everyone has a coping mechanism, I guess. Helps funnel negative emotions into productive things. Doesn't work for me, though. If I try to read a book or watch a movie, I find myself just drifting off into thought about the situation. Can't concentrate or push it aside without solving it first.

 

[vampirekid.13]

i can honestly say i dont have a conscience.


and please dont get me wrong, im not making myself look better or whatever. i HATE not having one.

i dont feel guilt. so i hardly can tell wrong from right, and this caused a lot of problems in my life.


i hate it, i wish every decision i made would make me feel miserable because i know i deserve it.

 

[latenightapplepie]

For example, I myself feel guilty for doing so much as skipping a class.

Yeah, I get this same thing a fair bit as well, so I do my best to go to all my classes.

So, how do you handle such feelings and situations?

With the above, I can fairly easily excuse it for hanging out with friends or having an important assignment to do. Sometimes I doubt whether skipping a class actually produces guilt for me, and think instead that it might be anxiety. It's difficult to separate the two, but I think I feel shit for missing a class because I'm breaking some kind of self-imposed rule that only affects me. On the other hand, being too lazy to catch up with a friend is wronging someone else and this more easily produces guilt for me.

For example, getting into a fight with a friend about something completely stupid compared to not doing enough homework. The former will likely make me feel guilty, the latter will make me feel useless or pathetic, but not guilty per se

I supppose it all depends on how you define guilty.

 

[A010110100101102]

I dislike guilt. It makes me feel uncomfortable, distressed and nervous.

Hence, my guilty conscience rules heavily on my actions. I tend to behave exceptionally well, so that I don't feel guilty about anything.
If something I do has repercussions that affect people in a negative way that I had not foreseen, I do my best to make it up to them as I hate hurting people.

pretty similar to what Caimekaze said.

 

[asinann]

The only time I feel guilt is at holidays when I actually act like I'm praying with my family when I'm really just waiting for it to get over.

 

[Andalusa]

I feel guilty over the littlest things.
Not a small guilt either, one I kind of mull over for days.

 

[Disaster Button]

If I feel guilty over little things (which doesn't happen as often as it used to) I just try to ignore it and it usually fades pretty quick because after a certain point theres nothing I can do about it, usually the kinda guilt I feel for skipping class.

But if its something a bit bigger I could feel guilty for days and I'll try everything from distracting myself to lying to myself to make me feel better.

And if I've hurt someone I try to do the same thing because I have a really hard time apologising to people and actually meaning it, especially if its something relatively important.

 

[bpm195]

Due to guilt from a long story I'm not willing divulge, I've pretty much told nothing but the truth since late 2007. It was actually something I experimented with for a short while because I never wanted to have such a heavy conscience again, but once I realized that always being honest was easier than I anticpated (though INCREDIBLY akward at times, especially if I'm overly blunt) it was something I carried on for maybe 16 months. I relaxed my standards lately however. I'm on drugs so I can better deal with anxiety so having a little guilt on my conscience is bearable.

 

[Lexodus]

My conscience gives me hell every time I sacrifice another baby to the heathen Gods, so much so that I usually end up killing that baby's whole family so none of them can be sad or lonely.

Also, meth helps.