Whenever I do something I know is wrong, I feel horrible the next day. I was wondering if there are any prayers I can say or anything that the Torah provides that can make you feel better? Is there anything to help you be able to have to strength to move on and not make the same mistake again?
The fact that you feel so bad afterwards is a sign that your soul is pure and you haven’t become callous to your spirituality. What you are describing is the essence of Teshuva, repentance. We have a prayer for that in the Amidah – “selach lanu,” “Forgive us.”
You can also pray and repent in your own words. The three basic components of repentance are:
1. To feel bad about what you did.
2. To speak out your sin between yourself and G-d.
3. To accept upon yourself to avoid this sin in the future.
If you acted against another person, you must also ask forgiveness from them.
Rabbi Meir Goldberg