Uncle Steve and Damian
Surfside Beach, Texas
04 November 2007

It is in our very nature to take on guilt.  Through empathy, we feel the pain we have caused others and the guilt becomes our life companion.

And from guilt, we inflict self-punishment.  The problem is, when you are your own judge — the warden to your own self-imposed prison — the punishment never ends.  We rarely show mercy to ourselves.

When I am punishing Lily for hitting her little brother, I send her to her room, and when she comes out, I remind her that we don’t hit people, and the incident is over.  I take pity on her.  We take pity on most people who are careless or selfish or cruel, especially once they have realized the pain they have inflicted on others through their actions.

But we can’t seem to do that for ourselves.  How do you forgive yourself?  When does the punishment end?  When does the pain of empathy stop?

How do you change the past?  And if you could, would you?