Glutton for guilt

Someone asked me recently what I thought the connection was between food and guilt. Wise question. My response: "are they different?"

My compulsion has always been food. The question was prompted because I had recently been to a social gathering where I didn't follow the food plan I had made for myself. It was a wonderful event, and as I looked back on it, I didn't feel guilty at all. I thought I should have. In my life guilt and food are usually intextricably linked.

I was propelled to consider the question: just what is guilt anyway? I spend a lot of my time trying to avoid it...or at least avoid the risk of incurring it. But, with my food--here I am looking for it when it's not there!

I decided that guilt is a kind of indicator of conscience--a little red flag waving to indicate that somehow I've missed the mark. I'm use to missing the mark with my food, so I was looking for it. It turns out: I actually was doing what I wanted to do. Wow. Go figure.

Guilt tells us that we haven't quite gotten to the truth yet. We've gotten a bit off the path, or maybe we've gone really astray. But, either way, hopefully, it can be a growth lesson. So, I concocted a little acronym. Guilt is: Growing Until I Learn Truth.

I like the concept of growing...learning something new...pursuing the truth in any given situation. I don't need to be afraid of a little guilt. I can learn from it. It helps to give some courage to take risks, to try things out, make mistakes, learn from it, and try and new path. I don't have to be a glutton for it...but a little can be useful.