And no, there is no connection between the two events.

More than a year ago, Anita and I decided to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this year by taking a cruise with her parents. Hey, we spent our wedding night with MY family (my well-meaning father made reservations for Anita and me as well as my two eldest sisters and their families at the same time and at the same hotel, which meant we had nephews and brothers-in-law knocking on our door and making comments in the hallway all night long) it seems only right that we celebrate at least one anniversary with hers.

It just didn’t occur to us a year ago that booking a cruise for Nov. 7 meant we would be traveling on Election Day. I tried to explain that to my editors at the newspaper for which I work. For some reason, they didn’t find much comfort in knowing that one of their senior reporters — one whose beat assignment this year included a heavy dose of presidential politics — had made non-refundable vacation plans for what figured to be the biggest, most important day of the news year because he … you know … sort of forgot Election Day.

So instead of eating cold pizza in the newsroom with other ink-stained wretches while watching the election returns come in, I was lounging in a hotel room 3,000 miles away, sipping diet soda and watching CNN explain for the 93rd time — almost tearfully — that no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t find any more Republican votes for Mitt Romney in Florida.

Oh, and one other thing I was doing in that hotel room: I was feeling guilty. Even though I have earned the vacation time. Even though my editors signed off on the request. Even though they told me that I should go and have fun and not worry about it. I still felt guilty.

That’s because I’m kind of big on guilt. My mother used guilt as a motivational tool in much the same way that Michelangelo used a hammer and chisel. She got me to eat parsnips by telling me about the starving children in China. She got me to pull weeds by reminding me of how hard she worked to take care of me. And if I was sassy or ornery or spending too much time watching “The Mickey Mouse Club” on our black-and-white TV, she gently mentioned her aching back. She didn’t talk about how she had ended up in traction after participating in a Cub Scout roller skating party — a party she only went to because I made such a fuss about it. She didn’t have to. All she had to do was rub her back and sigh and I would do anything she asked.

So I learned from an early age to work hard and do the best I can do. And if that isn’t good enough — feel guilty about it.

I’d like to be able to tell you that I found other ways to inspire and motivate my own children to good deeds and positive work habits, but that wouldn’t quite be accurate. I confess to playing the guilt card as a parent — and playing it often. My children claim that if you look up the word “martyr” in the dictionary, you’ll see my byline.

And yeah, I feel kind of guilty about that, too.

But I’ve got to be honest with you. Sitting here on the deck of our ship, watching the mind-blowingly blue water of the Caribbean pass by, it occurs to me that maybe there are better ways to cruise through life than by constantly setting sail into a sea of guilt. While guilt can be a good thing, prompting us to make much-needed course corrections in our lives, it can also be an unnecessary burden when we’ve done our best to juggle the many demands of our lives. Even when we fall humanly short of our goals and expectations — as we all do from time to time — life generally gives us an opportunity to grow and change and maybe even take another shot at whatever it was that we messed up.

So don’t worry. Don’t settle for less than your best, but accept imperfection if it’s the best you can do. And prepare yourself for the next opportunity to excel that will surely come your way. In the words of the Patron Saint of cruisers everywhere, Jimmy Buffet, it’s always Election Day somewhere.

(To read more by Joseph B. Walker please go to www.josephbwalker.com.)