It occurs to me, based on my vast experience with Santa Claus, that there is no sackcloth in Santa’s Sack.

It’s not a present he delivers even to naughty little girls and boys.

Sackcloth is sooo Christmas Past.

“Who’s still wearing sackcloth,” you ask? – Those who haven’t found out how to get to Christmas Present.

Guilt is a feeling about something that’s past that you have no control over now because it’s over. The event is not happening now but you keep reminding yourself of it and reliving it every time you feel the roughness of the sackcloth against your skin.

It’s time to update your wardrobe.

Reminds me of a saying I heard along the way, “You always do the best you can do in accordance with your present level of awareness.”

Picture this scenario: You come home from work and you’ve had an especially rough day. The kids are acting up a bit and you lose it and scream and yell at them. 15 minutes later you get the gift of awareness that they were only being kids and didn’t really need to be treated to your outdoor voice. You begin to feel guilty and out comes the sackcloth. “I’m such a bad parent, blah, blah, blah . . .”

You did the best you could with the awareness that you had at the time. Guilt enters the picture when you judge a past action by a current level of awareness. Wearing sackcloth will do nothing to change a past behavior; it will only keep you scratching at it.

This is not absolution for the consequences of your behavior. That’s a debt that always has to be paid. Recognizing that you are judging a past action by a present level of awareness will get guilt out of the way of making amends.

Guilt delays right action. The time you spend preoccupied with the faux pas of fashion (sackcloth), is time and energy wasted in not finding a remedy.

The remedy is getting the focus off of you and on to a solution. That’s hard to do when you are being pricked by the skin of dead porcupine.

Guilt is a signal to do something about your actions; not a license to perpetually dress poorly.

If you really want a great surprise from Santa this year, burn your sackcloth, make amends, and you’ll receive the gift of recognition – which is the gift of Christmas Present.

All the best,

John

LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF
STOP SMOKING FOREVER
SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT
IMPROVE YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE
I LOVE MY BODY
RELAX IN 2 MINUTES
FEEL FOREVER YOUNG
VIRTUAL MASSAGE