Not liking 'should'

Lots of people in recovery don't like the word should and suggest that the word, and its suggestion of moral obligation, be abandoned. This, of course, won't do. The same people who disavow the notion of moral obligation would naturally object vociferously if a shopkeeper short-changed them but refused to pay the difference, even though he should, now he has learned to stop shaming himself with this word. In other words, those loath to recognise moral obligations on themselves would typically be swift to uphold them against others.

The truth, of course, is that there is a moral law, and there are also the laws of cause and effect. Should might indicate that I have a moral obligation; it might indicate that my best interests would be served by following a particular course of action (e.g. doing service, completing an inventory). In fact, my best interests do lie precisely in fulfilling my moral obligations.

Wallowing in guilt because one does not do what one should obviously achieves nothing, but the solution is not to ditch morality and obligation; it is, rather, to listen and act.