When Guilt Stops Gratitude
This article talks about how it can be difficult to feel grateful for someone's help when you feel indebted to them - like you'll never be able to repay them, especially if you've been put in the position of needing their help through a situation you view as unfair. It recommends you can overcome your guilt by being thankful, taking the opportunities/ help they give and making sure you use it well.
I think another way of overcoming guilt is to understand the nature of giving and receiving. We all play both roles at different points in our lives (or we can if we chose to). Sometimes we need to be given to, other times we need to give. Some people like to give and therefore chose it as something that fulfills a need in them, as much as simply fulfilling a need in the person they are giving to at that time. While it is nice to be able to give back in equal measure to someone who has given to you, and, where possible, I would suggest you strive for that. But often it is simply a question of acknowledging that you will never give back to them in equal measure. Instead, look for others you can give to without expecting the same in return. Then, in the bigger picture of life, it all balances out. I like to give - and I like to receive. I also suffer from guilt. But it has helped me a lot to see giving and receiving as part of a much larger balance than perhaps the specific exchange I am currently in. And be grateful - for being given to and for the opportunity to give.
This article talks about how it can be difficult to feel grateful for someone's help when you feel indebted to them - like you'll never be able to repay them, especially if you've been put in the position of needing their help through a situation you view as unfair. It recommends you can overcome your guilt by being thankful, taking the opportunities/ help they give and making sure you use it well.
I think another way of overcoming guilt is to understand the nature of giving and receiving. We all play both roles at different points in our lives (or we can if we chose to). Sometimes we need to be given to, other times we need to give. Some people like to give and therefore chose it as something that fulfills a need in them, as much as simply fulfilling a need in the person they are giving to at that time. While it is nice to be able to give back in equal measure to someone who has given to you, and, where possible, I would suggest you strive for that. But often it is simply a question of acknowledging that you will never give back to them in equal measure. Instead, look for others you can give to without expecting the same in return. Then, in the bigger picture of life, it all balances out. I like to give - and I like to receive. I also suffer from guilt. But it has helped me a lot to see giving and receiving as part of a much larger balance than perhaps the specific exchange I am currently in. And be grateful - for being given to and for the opportunity to give.