Stop Feeling Guilty And Just Live Your Life

You haven’t exercised in three months because you needed to rest? It’s alright. Stop feeling guilty. You are a good person.

The piece of cake you had at work today (and the second one you snuck an hour later when nobody was watching) is making you feel like a failure? Stop that. It doesn’t make you a weak person, nor a failure, nor is your life ruined. It’s cake, not a measuring device of your worthiness.

The nice, warm weather is giving you a panicky feeling because you believe you’re not “ready for summer” yet? You are ready. You are not required to look a certain way to take up space. You can show yourself to the world the way you are, no dieting or exercising required.

Do you think you should be further along in life, because when you were 19 you made a list of milestones you wanted to reach at certain ages and you haven’t reached them yet? Relax. Life doesn’t work that way. Things will happen exactly at the right time when they’re supposed to happen. Some of them will take years, maybe decades; some won’t happen at all because you’ll realize you don’t want them anymore. Our priorities change, and that’s okay. You are allowed to change your mind, and you will do so many times as you get older and evolve. Don’t feel guilty for abandoning old goals that don’t serve you anymore.

Have you have swallowed the lie that you have to hustle hard if you want to live your best life, and you feel guilty for not doing more? Stop that right now. You don’t need to have a career and a side hustle and a 5-year-plan to conquer the world. You are allowed to be happy with a job, not a career; you can be proud of yourself for being a hobby knitter without having to sell your creations on Etsy. It’s perfectly acceptable to go for leisurely walks and not have the ambition to run a marathon. The glorification of the hustle leads more often to exhaustion and burnout than the happily ever after we’ve been promised. You can stop running and chasing goals that society has told you you should pursue and live a calm, peaceful life. Stop feeling guilty for being content with what you have—that’s what life is all about! Being happy with what you have!

Don’t believe that you have to look a certain way to be worthy.

Don’t feel bad for eating meat or sugar or bread or all of the above. You are not a lesser person for not buying into the latest “health” trend or for preferring coffee to celery juice.

It’s okay to make mistakes. We all make them every day. Stop feeling guilty for the mistakes you’ve made in the past; it’s done now. Focus on the present.

It’s okay to fail. We all fail often and will continue to do so. That’s the only way to learn and grow.

Stop feeling guilty for being human and flawed and a work in progress. Be proud of where you are in life right now, even if it’s not where you eventually want to be. You are doing fine, including all the mishaps and failures.

Celebrate not only the little victories in your life, but also the ordinary moments—and yes, cake and champagne are encouraged, guilt-free.