The Guilty Feeling

To perfectly define the word guilt (click here to see more definitions about guilt., it is the state of having committed an offense. Committing an offense might cause guilt, but the feeling of guilt is more then what you do, its how you feel about what you did. It is human nature to make mistakes. People mess up and all people have regrets; feeling guilty for these mistakes is what drives people to fix them.
As you all know, I have an obsession with the network drama, One Tree Hill. When I think of guilt, I think of a certain plot from the play. I can just as easily tell you about how Dan felt guilty after killing his brother. I can easily tell you that Lucas felt guilty about cheating on Brook with her best friend. What’s not that easy to describe is how Peyton feels about her mother’s death. She feels responsible. Peyton feels like it is her fault that her mother died. Peyton feels guilt every time she visits her mother’s grave, for she remembers how it happened.
Peyton didn’t commit an offence. She acted like a daughter would and being a mother, Peyton’s mom did all she could to get to her daughter in the fastest way possible. To do this, she passed a red light. This one-second in time is what took her mother’s life. When Peyton talks about her mom’s death, she says, “ I shouldn’t have rushed her. I should have just been patient.” Thankfully, it was not actually Peyton’s fault, but the tragic loss of her mom drove her to feel guilty about every wrongdoing, including rushing her to pick her up, that Peyton had ever done to her mother. A death has caused me to feel guilty too.
Just a few months ago, my uncle died. It was so sudden and so unexpected. During dinner with my parents, he literally just collapsed; it was a heart attack. He never had heart problems before and he was the LAST person I ever expected to die. A few days before that was Chanukah and as always, I received cash with a card saying Love you, Uncle Less, Aunt Sheryl and the rest of the family. It was so unlike me, but I never called to say thank you. I never took five minutes out of my life to call my uncle and just say thank you for the gift I love you too. Then, he died and I thought wow I can’t believe I never called him to say I love you one last time.
Feeling guilty about not calling him made me loose sleep. I lost the last opportunity I had to talk to him. Sleep issues is a common
problems (click here to see more about how people chance when they feel guilty. when a person feels guilty about something. For instance, Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, slept walked because she feels guilty about almost forcing Macbeth to murder the king. She didn’t actually force him, but she made Macbeth feel as though it was mandatory and there were no other options. Macbeth wouldn’t have actually murdered King Dunkin if Lady Macbeth didn’t make him; therefore, Lady Macbeth feels guilty because if not for her, the king would still be living.
As a conclusion, everyone feels guilty about different situations. When you feel guilty, it changes your life and how you look at things. It makes you appreciate more and feel what you didn’t feel before. Both Peyton, Lady Macbeth, I, and probably every human living has felt guilty at one point in their lives.