The impression one can get from lots of the pop psychology being marketed these days is that guilt is the most inappropriate of human sentiments. We are who we are, and we do what we do. Nobody should feel guilty about anything. Feeling guilty about anything is bad. It can only lead to negative results.
That simply isn’t true. Some things are wrong, and doing them should make us feel guilty. Those feelings are natural. They are not only appropriate but also can lead to positive outcomes. Take the following example as a case study of what appears to be a guilty conscience bearing good fruit.
On the night of July 31, some thieves broke into the San Bernardino County (California) Sexual Assault Services office. They wiggled between walls and floor boards to keep from triggering the building’s security system. They clipped some alarm wires and made their way into an area where some property with street value was located. In a matter of minutes, they made off with six computers, a laptop, and several other items. A report was made to the police department.
Before your blood pressure elevates over the brazen audacity of criminals who would take the property of people dedicated to helping victims of sexual assault, you need to know that there is more to the story.
The very next morning, San Bernardino police reported still more suspicious activity at the same location. Were the thieves coming back to look for more? Had the news report of a disabled alarm system drawn other sinister characters?
When Candy Stallings, executive director of the nonprofit, took the call from police and showed up in the early hours to check on things, she gasped.
“All my stuff was in front of the door,” she said. “There was a shopping cart, and there were the PCs that were taken. There was the laptop. Everything was there.”
Attached to the laptop was the following note:
We had no idea what we were taking. Here’s your stuff back. We hope that you guys can continue to make a difference in people’s lives. God bless.
“We were all pretty shocked,” Ms. Stallings said. “You’ve got to be kidding me! I was in disbelief. I got chills. I got very emotional.”
“This is the first time in my career I have seen the return of stolen items,” Police Lt. Paul Williams added in an NBC Los Angeles interview. “It appears the guilt of taking the property caused the return of the items.”
Maybe guilt has gotten a bad rap lately. And perhaps some of the sports cheaters, corrupt politicians, and white-collar crooks – as well as garden-variety property thieves – should listen to their consciences before they get too hard.
Guilt can be a benevolent guide to call one back to a rejected right path.