Is guilt a waste of time?

I can partly agree that you should not feel so guilty about so many things, however, guilt is important, and when you should and do feel guilty, it should be very stressful and bad.

Guilt is essential for you to turn out a well balanced or just plain nice person. It lets you fully understand the severity of reality at times, and helps you grow as a person, and be more empathetic.

If I had good intentions, it’s very easy to just chuck it up to experience, but when I was malicious, or even just ignorant or neglectful, I welcome guilt.

Guilt is appropriate if you have been irrational.
Otherwise, it is just a political device to get you to give away your money.

I don’t think feeling guilt is voluntary. Therefore, one can not simple begin to feel guilty and thus waste time. I disagree with the notion that it is a waste of time, even if we can agree one can all of a sudden start and stop feeling guilty. But then again I also disagree that one must forgive no matter what.

Depends what it is the person has done. Besides it being everything mentioned above, I see it as a form of self-punishment for the bad action. A punishment that could actually be a rather severe one.

If one can forgive themselves after the guilt phase is or should be over the sooner the better. There are about as many circumstances that can cause guilt as there are people so some will be affected more severely, like if something one did becomes a constant reminder and keeps it alive.
I felt guilty because my dog died last year. It wasn’t my fault but I was her keeper and was responsible for everything involving her so it was bad for me. It still bothers me but not as much as it did back when it happened.
Do I feel guilty if two snacks fall out of the vending machine instead of one I paid for? A little, maybe, but if there is someone there to give it away to then that about gets me off the hook…I guess. The guy who makes his living by stocking that machine takes the hit but I figure it evens out when the machine screws someone over.

There are some who can’t feel guilt but I hope they are extremely rare. I suppose they are the sociopaths among us?

@poisonedantidote, Great Answer.
@josie, I think it can apply to more than irrational behavior.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir True. I guess, if a person is more empathetic, it is involuntary. But I can see in a practical sense how one can learn to lessen the guilt they feel in some situations, if they feel they do not benefit from it.
@ZEPHYRA yeah, thats what I first understood from what I read. You can kind of beat yourself up over something when it wasn’t necessary and instead of taking some bad experiences and simply learning from it that we can shoot ourselves in the foot by over reacting and holding on to something way in the past instead of moving forward.

@Pandora Well, it really depends on whether the guilt is justified.

Feelings are not always logical. You can’t always talk yourself out of feeling a certain way. Sometimes you just can’t help it. For me, if I have a feeling that is unpleasant, I will talk myself through it, ask myself why I am feeling that way. Perhaps I might try to acknowledge the feeling but talk myself out of feeling that way, in order to feel better.

@woodcutter Good point. For certain we should learn to let go of guilt for stuff that is not in our control or for stuff that wouldn’t make a differnce. I felt guilty for many years for not taking the time I had with my dad on his last day, to tell him how much I loved him and will miss him. Instead I was pretty quiet and left the room after I told him I would be back later. I wasn’t able to make it back before he died. I always felt guilty for that but then I realized with time that I would’ve just felt guilty for something else. I was really feeling guilty because I didn’t know how to make death easier for him or for me. Now when I think of it I just feel sad but I’m not as hard on myself as I once was. I was only 18. What was I expecting to know about death.

Feeling guilt may be a waste of time, but if you have a reason to truly feel guilt, it is easier said than done to put it out of your mind (especially if the guilt is for something that is not within your power to make right). Feelings just are.

Guilt has a purpose as does shame. They allow us to live in society. While feeling guilt is sometimes good, wallowing in guilt constantly is bad.