Someone told me once that guilt is when you feel you've done something bad-- and shame is when you feel you are bad. Both feel bad but they are two distinct feelings.

It is practical to feel guilt sometimes (shame, I'm not so sure about). It's like nature's way of telling us we did something wrong. But sometimes I think that we overdo it. We assume we can and should control everything. It becomes a battle to meet our own excessive expectations. We turn ourselves into our own worst enemies.

I love the catch phrase around here "be gentle with yourself." I think it's no accident a lot of people need to hear that. Guilt and shame come from bad experiences and part of healing is knowing when to feel them, and when to let go...