Just like so many other people, you probably wish you hadn't made some mistakes in your past. Dealing with guilt can be difficult, but it doesn't mean we should give up trying because of our failures. Learn what it means remorse and what lessons to draw from this feeling.

What is remorse?

In short, the meaning of remorse refers to a person's regret over mistakes made That is, an individual feels guilt for his or her failure, especially when it affects another person's life. The individual's conscience takes it upon itself to create a sense of uneasiness and distress for the individual to understand his or her actions.

The individual who cheats feels remorse because his conscience tells him that the trust between people has been broken. Although we can all make mistakes, this fact does not prevent many from feeling guilty. The more time passes, the more the sadness for having made a mistake increases.

There is dignity in feeling remorse, something that reveals a lot about a person's character. This more intense and prolonged sadness involves a process of acceptance and forgiveness as time progresses. If you are in doubt about how to write the word between remorse or remorse, the first option is the correct one.

Origins

According to some dictionaries, the word remorse is derived from the Latin remorsus . being a past participle of remordere So it is when a person remembers a difficult part of his life and often tortures himself with this mistake.

Already in the etymology of the word we can see how agonizing and shameful a feeling it can be. The feeling that a person has for having acted badly comes from his conscience being able to perceive the consequences of his action .

Consequences of remorse

An individual who feels remorse knows very well how distressing this feeling is. Besides this, other negative impressions and feelings usually affect a person's mood:

• Guilt

The responsibility for having made a mistake makes a person feel very guilty. This guilt is growing, so that the memory of the mistake always reappears in the individual's mind.

• Lamentation

Next comes the individual's need to demonstrate the pain he feels. Beyond his pain comes the desire for responsibility regarding the faults he has committed.

• Repentance

After the regret, repentance arises, making the person rethink his decisions. In other words, an immediate desire arises to have done what he did in a totally different way.

The past that makes you sick

Remorse is linked to the attitudes of our past, specifically to the mistakes we have made. It is a confirmation that certain attitudes we had should not have been taken. If this feeling of guilt continues to grow in a person's mind, he will probably become ill .

As remorse increases, an emotional weariness takes over the individual. According to some health professionals, negative feelings are capable of doing harm to a person. Therefore, if the individual does not heal this pain within himself, he will be affected by physical health problems, such as:

• headaches;
• malfunction of the body's gallbladder, leading to complications in the production of bile;
• cardiac arrhythmia and palpitations.

An anchor to the past

Remorse can be understood as a sign that we have failed someone or ourselves. This disappointment easily makes our outlook on life quite negative. Put another way, we end up stuck in a past suffering that defines our future.

Even if such a mistake has caused us a lot of pain, it is necessary to observe how it affects our present. Imagine being prevented from using your personal resources because of the mistakes you made before. Certainly, it will not achieve your evolution as a human being.

In order to get on with your life, you need to free yourself from the weight that your past brings into the present Many of the positive changes you want in your life begin with the ability to forgive yourself. Even if forgiveness from others is hard to come by, start forgiving yourself in order to live in the now.

The Power of Choice

One of the greatest lessons that remorse can teach us is that we are capable of making important choices. However, it takes wisdom to make the decision that is most beneficial to us or our group. Through mistakes we understand what we need to improve in order to grow as individuals .

I want information to enroll in the Psychoanalysis Course .

For example, the person who cheats feels remorse because he later understands how his choice caused pain to the other. Changing from a serious and already intimate partner to an affair brought difficult consequences for this individual. The betrayal caused a hurt for the betrayed lover, influencing the guilt of the betrayer.

So we can see that we always have the power to make decisions. With our mistakes comes the concern to make better choices for the future. But if the person who makes a mistake cannot learn from his failures will hardly evolve as a human being .

Learning to deal with emotions

People who feel remorse know exactly the weight of the emotional burden they carry. Many of them cannot deal with this regret and somehow get sick. This kind of reaction happens because the guilty ones cannot deal with their own feelings.

As we said before, our emotions can make us sick if we don't take care of them. As the negative feelings intensify we can face problems that are difficult to solve. If this kind of situation happens, it is recommended to seek professional help.

A therapist will be able to help the patient overcome his personal problems in a satisfactory manner Through a therapeutic approach, such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, it is possible to change internal patterns. In this way, those who feel extremely guilty will be able to cope better with their conflicting emotions.

Final remorse considerations

Feeling remorse is proof that we know the impact our actions have had on those around us. Guilt comes through the feeling that we have failed, especially those we love the most. Although it is a difficult time, we need to understand how this experience teaches us about values and dignity.

However, this feeling is not all bad, since we can mature and become more responsible people. Everyone makes mistakes, it is normal, but now we have a greater knowledge of the weight of the choices we make. After all, living is an eternal apprenticeship where we seek to do our best always.

You can learn how to better deal with remorse and other difficult feelings in our online Psychoanalysis course Psychoanalysis will help you to unlock your potential and self-knowledge, contributing to your evolution in a fantastic way.