As we make the transition to adulthood, it can be confusing to figure out the rights and wrongs of handling different situations.
This is especially true for social interactions, where you don’t know how to act. Should you agree to things just for the sake of it, or should you say no at the cost of coming across as rude?
However, I have come to realize that sometimes you just need to do things for your own sake and stop feeling guilty about them. Your mental health and your well-being should be your top priority, before anything else!
Things To Not Feel Guilty About
Keeping that in mind, here are some things you need to stop feeling guilty for:
- Saying No
Remember, you’re not a doormat. It is completely okay for you to say no to something whenever you feel like it.
Whether it is to a friend asking you to hang out at a time inconvenient for you, or an acquaintance calling in a favor. If your instinct is telling you to say no, just listen to it and say no.
If you keep giving in to people’s requests, you’ll eventually drain yourself. Besides, once you make a habit of saying yes to everything and everyone, people start taking it for granted.
And soon it will start weighing you down. To prevent that from happening, learn to say no once in a while and learn to forgive yourself for it.
- Declining Social Calls
Everyone has different temperaments of dealing with social situations. Not everyone can be the best version of themselves at all times.
So if you ever feel like you can’t deal with certain social situations, even if it’s just a phone call- give yourself the break you need.
Decline that call, and tell yourself that you’ll deal with it later when you feel more capable of handling it.
- Pampering Yourself
You need to put in the time, effort, and patience into important things in order to make a name for yourself or get into a good position career-wise.
But not at the cost of your health and happiness. Every once in a while, remind yourself that it’s okay to take a break to cater to your needs. Whatever they may be.
Everyone can reach a point of complete burnout, and recovering from that can be excruciating.
Instead, prevent yourself from getting there at all, by taking small breaks to do things you love. Whether it’s to read, play video games, get ice cream, get your nails done, or whatever.
Don’t feel bad for wanting to take some time out to care for yourself!
- Your Imperfections
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! You shouldn’t feel guilty for not being perfect. We’re only human, it’s natural for us to have imperfections.
I know it’s not easy to not feel insecure about something, but remember, people that are genuinely worth having around, wouldn’t care about all these imperfections. In fact, they’ll accept you and love you despite it all.
- For Being Unaware Of Something
The world is evolving at a surprisingly fast pace. Not everyone can be well-informed on everything all the time.
If you were caught up in a conversation about something you didn’t know of all that well. It’s completely okay. Don’t beat yourself up for it. If you want to, read up and educate yourself. That’s all you need to do about it.
Feeling bad for not being a know-it-all won’t help anyone.
- Taking A Sick Day Or Mental Health Day
You only get this one body and this one mind, you need to treat it with care if you want it to serve you well over the years.
If you feel physically sick or mentally exhausted, don’t push yourself to accomplish things. Instead, call in a sick day and spend that day taking care of yourself.
You DO NOT have to feel bad for needing this break! You’re not a robot!
- About Letting Go
If a situation or a person no longer serves you, don’t be afraid of letting go!
Holding onto something can be tiring and it will eventually weigh you down.
Instead, find the courage in you to let go of whatever it is, without feeling bad about it. Because, if it were meant to be good for you, you would never feel this way in the first place.
- Your Living Situation
Whether you live in a mansion or with your parents in their house, you don’t have to explain it to anyone.
Society sets high standards for all of us, and it’s almost impossible to accomplish them all. So whatever your living situation is, if you’re happy with it, then that’s all you need to know. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad!
- Quitting Your Job
Being unhappy in your job is one of the worst feelings. You feel like you’re wasting your time and energy on something you don’t even feel happy about.
So if you need to, and if your circumstances allow, please quit your job. It might not be an easy decision but your future self will thank you for it. Don’t feel guilty about having to do it.
You only have this one life, don’t waste it on something that doesn’t fulfill you.
- Spending Money
If you have earned that money, you have earned the right to spend it however you want.
You do not have to explain it to anyone, nor do you have to feel bad about spending it on something you love every once in a while. As long as you’re happy, just go ahead and do it!
- Doing Nothing
It’s insane how much ‘doing nothing’ is frowned upon these days. If you need some time to gather your thoughts and take a break to figure it out, it’s OKAY!
Don’t feel guilty for wanting to do nothing! Everyone gets exhausted at one time. Yours just happens to be right now.
- Setting Boundaries
The only way to feel happy in any relationship whether they’re family, friends, or partner is by communicating your needs and boundaries.
If you felt the need to set certain boundaries in any of your relationships, that’s fine. It’s good that you recognized your needs and feel brave enough to communicate them. Don’t feel bad about it.
- Your Religious Views
Your religious views or the lack of them is something personal to you. You don’t need to feel guilty about believing in whatever you think is right.
Everyone perceives religion differently. So as long as you’re not hurting someone’s sentiments, you have nothing to feel bad for.
- Your Political Views
Politics is very subjective. A lot of people tend to take it personally, but you don’t have to.
If your political views are backed with knowledge and understanding, then you don’t have to feel guilty for seeing things the way you do.
Again, as long as your views don’t harm anyone, you don’t have to feel guilty about them.
- Your Career Goals
As we grow, society and the people around us tend to have certain expectations. And this applies to careers as well.
However, if you want to stray away from the conventional career expectations and pursue something you’re passionate about; then go ahead and do it!
Everyone who really cares about you will find a way to come around!
- Being Single/Your Relationship Status
Whether you’re single or in an exclusive relationship, if you’re happy in it, then you do you!
Whatever your relationship status is, it’s fine as long as you’re happy. Guilt is the last thing that should convince you to change your relationship status.
- What You Do Or Don’t Eat
Body shaming for people at both extremes of the scale can be equally detrimental. While it’s good to want to change and adopt healthier habits, you should only do it for YOUR OWN SELF.
Don’t let ANYONE make you feel guilty for what you eat or don’t eat. It’s your body, you can choose to treat it however you want to, without feeling guilty about it.
- Distancing Yourself From Toxic People
Toxic people can take your self-esteem to a whole new low. So if you found the courage to part ways with them and maintain your distance, kudos to you my friend!
PLEASE don’t feel bad about it. You did your mental health a huge favor, so thrive in it.
- Standing Up For Yourself
If a situation or a person is making you feel uncomfortable, you have every right to voice your feelings.
No one can tell you that what you feel isn’t valid, because surely there is a reason why you felt that way. So if you took a stand for yourself, never for once feel bad for it.
- Following Up On Unanswered Calls Or Emails
No one likes being ignored! If you feel like you need an answer to that text/call/email, follow up without any guilt.
No, it’s not too desperate or anything of the sort. It’s completely fine!
- Doing What You Know Is Right For You, Even When Everyone Else Around You Thinks Otherwise
Sometimes, no matter what people say, you need to follow your gut instinct about something.
And if you’re doing that, don’t feel guilty about it. People might not understand it but you do, and sometimes you need to follow an instinct in spite of everything else.
Guilt Be Gone!
There are plenty of things other than those listed that you might feel guilty about every day. But you need to ask yourself; if your decision makes you happy, why feel guilty about it? As long as it’s not harming anyone of course!
No matter how much you try, there will always be someone that disagrees with you. Just try to not let it affect you as often, and live more at peace with yourself.
