Shame

 Everyone carries shame. It is a fundamental human feeling. When we carry shame in secret, it distorts our inner world, which creates a distorted, uncomfortable, undesirable outer world. It makes us feel as if we have something bad inside of us that we need to keep hidden, something that, if it were known, would make people run away from or reject us. When we build up resentment and fear, we become paranoid, imagining that people are saying and thinking things about us. Shame can make us lash out or act out; say and do things in an effort to get rid of the feeling. When we do this, we only deepen the shame because only in owning and experiencing the feeling for what it is, can we let it go.