The Myth of Failure

Nothing in the human experience is more universal than failure. The ways we fail vary, and some of our slip-ups are more serious than others. But almost every day, and often many times throughout the day, we make mistakes.

When we err, the primary emotion that we experience is guilt (for our behavior), followed by shame (relative to our identity). While both guilt and shame are destructive emotions, people sometimes confuse guilt with what I like to call love’s prompting.

If you offend someone, then love’s prompting can cause you to make amends. This is a prompting by the spirit that is always void of judgment against self or others.

Guilt, on the other hand, is embedded in fear and always leads to shame. It opposes and attacks universal love. Since the feeling of not being worthy of unconditional love is inherent in guilt, it turns into a profoundly destructive feeling of shame.

Whereas love’s prompting is an instructive voice of forgiveness and restoration.

To be continued tomorrow…

Adapted from section 2 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren