On Guilt and Compassion

Every decision we make is grounded and supported by ALL the events of our lives leading up to the decisions… going back to our conception. These decisions are also supported by the events of our parents, grandparents, etc. going all the way back to the beginning of time. The decisions we make today are the results, the culmination, of everything that ever was.

If you feel you've made bad decisions, you cannot beat yourself up about it. If you were to go back in time to that very moment the decision was made, knowing exactly what you knew then, you would make the exact same decision! You cannot help it. Your inputs don't change, nor does your ability to process those inputs, therefore the outputs (the decisions) would be EXACTLY the same. Of course, if you were to say, "knowing what I know now…", that is a very different beast and something we are incapable of actually being able to do.  Going back in time knowing what we know now is unrealistic; its an exercise in futility. Don’t go down that rabbit hole except to use it as a way to learn from the past.
​
Yes, we hope to learn from our bad decisions, that is how the universe works. So we move forward empowered by our past. Brush away any guilt from past decisions; regardless of how severe they were. It was all inevitable and not in your power to do anything different. This is what it means to have compassion for ourselves. Having compassion for others is understanding that everyone is burdened with this same truth.