CTL-VII-0050
“I finally set down blame I'd been carrying that was never mine to hold.”
You picked up that guilt years ago and have been hauling it ever since, as if the weight proved your decency. It didn't. The fault belonged to circumstances, or to someone else, or to no one. Owning only what is yours means putting down what was never yours, and the lightness you feel is the proof.
Your Practice
- Name precisely what you've been blaming yourself for.
- Ask: 'Was this actually within my power at the time?'
- If the honest answer is no, say aloud: 'This was never mine.'
- Note the lightness, and refuse to pick it back up tomorrow.
The Architects
“The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life.”
Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, Part I: Experiences in a Concentration Camp (Ilse Lasch translation, Beacon Press)