Feeling guilty does not automatically prove guilt, just as feeling innocent does not prove innocence.

Guilt is a feeling, and like all feelings it can misfire. Some people carry it constantly and are careful, considerate, and harming no one. Others do genuine damage and feel nothing at all, because the machinery that produces the sensation is not connected to any moral fact. Consulting the feeling alone tells you about your conscience’s settings, not about what you did.

When guilt is heavy, ask what specifically you did and who was harmed. If you can name both, make it right. If you cannot, you are carrying something that does not correspond to an act, and the work is to notice that rather than to search harder for a crime.