Why is knowing your values a key component in understanding your emotions? Most often, no matter which one you choose you end up feeling guilty, so you might think you made the wrong decision. We often rationalize to ourselves or others why we shouldn’t be feeling guilty about having to make those hard choices between competing values, OR we get caught up in not understanding why we feel so guilty when we "know” we made the right choice. The reality is that it makes perfect sense to feel guilty when you choose one value over another. Guilt reminds us about what is important in our lives and how we need to keep paying attention to our values. The key is remembering that you chose to prioritize one value over another because of the importance of the immediate goal.