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Sometimes unhappiness results from our feeling inadequate and not appreciating our self-worth. We define ourselves by past failings and mistakes. Perversely our mind finds comfort in these feelings by rationalising them and portraying them to be noble feelings of guilt. However these feelings can be very destructive. They can demoralise a person and detract from his or her energy to be focused on the present and the future.
Chassidism teaches that one of the ploys of our evil inclination is to overwhelm an individual with self-righteous guilt over past deeds. When one is happy within one’s self, he or she has more self-control and doesn’t surrender to every impulse. But a sad person who is overcome by guilt loses that power of resistance. This is the evil inclination’s plan: to lure a person into feeling bad about past behaviour in order to entice him/her into even worse behaviour in the future. This leads to an even deeper feeling of degradation, which leads to a search for worse indulgences and so the cycle repeats itself.
Nonetheless it is crucial to take stock of our actions. Without this process how can one improve? But to ensure that these reflections inspire growth rather than guilt entails ignoring the thoughts when they appear in our mind and instead appointing the time for self-examination ourself. When we take charge of the process, our thinking is proactive, seeking positive change, not reactive which leads to guilt. We will know if our stocktaking was productive based on the results of the sessions with ourselves.