Guilt

It always intrigues me that people feel guilt in varying degrees. How is it that I feel guilty for taking a day off work when I’m actually sick whereas others can pull a sicky to hang out with mates seemingly without any remorse at all. I had to leave work early last Monday as I could barely speak with my laryngitis but I felt so awful about it that I actually took some marking home with me and then the next day I felt so at fault for calling in sick again.

Do we guilt-ridden have an enlarged area in our brain that sends out disapproving messages about what we do? Is it the tellings-off and disappointed glances of our youth? Was it the brimstone and hell-fire preached from the pulpit? Or is it that some people just have this uncanny knack of making us feel guilty? Or maybe it is not guilt at all but just the control freak in me that is convinced that things will fall apart completely if I am not there. I still won’t be pulling a sicky anytime soon but I think perhaps I will lighten up on myself a little.