Guilty as charged

Among the different variety of exploitation that exists in this world, half of them employ it while almost all of the emotional ones depend on it. Well, what is it? Its guilt. Its actually both a good thing and a bad thing. It is this inner voice that makes you repent over the things you did wrong and compels and urges you to make them right. But what if this inner voice is heard by someone else and they also know what to say to compel or urge you to do something?

You come across these beggars on the street and well, as far as Pakistan is concerned, there is the Thursday thing too where they roam your neighborhood in search for alms and donations. They call in the name of the Lord or the favorite Prophet of the Lord, whom you happen to follow. They call in the name of all the sufferings and loss that you have had or all the good things that you want and say the Lord will help, if you help them. They call in the name of your children, your parents, your brothers and sisters.They call that you may have success. They call that you may prosper. We give them something and it makes us happy, really happy.

There is another wonderful group of people. They follow someone. Not only that they follow someone but they follow unquestioningly and without condition. They find the knowledge and power and value the person wields fascinating and how well that person goes about his affairs inspiring. That inspiring person is a guiding light and represents the things that they would like to be or do. That inspiring person knows what the don't know and does what they don't do and following him makes them happy, very happy.

To me, there is a common thread that runs through these pearls and many more such in life to bring about this wonderful and shiny trap that you put around you neck. To me, the thread is guilt. I don't know if you find my theory interesting or not but I believe it has a point. The feeling of guilt that can remove us from the wrong path, once harnessed by someone can lead us in any direction and we will be happy, really happy.

The beggar stands there and says all the things that you feel inside and gives you the means to do something about it, no matter how pointless. You want that good thing to happen but you may know that you haven't done enough to earn it.You want that bad thing to go away but you may know you may have done wrong to deserve it. Guilty of your own shortcomings you feel compelled to give him something in the hope that it will change things.

The preacher may be sitting on his pulpit and telling you things that you should do and you feel compelled to follow it. Guilty of your own sins and lack of knowledge you rest the burden of truth on his shoulders and hope that he will take you across. You must follow because you don't know. You must follow because you are no good.

Life it seems throws you in uncertainty and makes you vulnerable with your mistakes. The key is to learn to listen to you inner voice and not to the people out there to make things right. You may still make some mistakes but you learn and you do it right. Let it be action and not compulsion. Let people be helpers and not operators.