My trusty source dictionary.com defines guilt as "a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined." I must emphasize the word imagined because that's usually the type of offense I feel guilty about.

Take yesterday, for example. My mom had a "mini-stroke," which unfortunately happens several times per year. I felt guilty for not rushing up to the hospital to be with my mom - or so I thought. What I was really feeling bad about was the possibility that my mom's friend - the one who called me to tell

me about her mini-stroke - would think that I was a "bad" daughter. Like that even matters in the grand scheme of things.

I knew that I was not doing anything wrong by not going. After all, a hospital is theoretically one of the safest places a sick person could be. My mom flat out told me not to come. There was nothing that my presence could have added to the situation.

Yet I felt guilty.

So, next time you're feeling responsibility or remorse, take a minute to think about whether the situation is real or imagined. And if it's real, is it sensible? I really believe that guilt is ajust a motivator. If you feel it, you either need to change the situation or change your perspective.