Guilt is a very powerful emotion

According to Wikipedia:

Guilt (emotion) is an emotion that occurs when a person believes that they have violated a moral standard that they themselves believe in.


Whoa,  crazy introspection...
I suffer from almost continuous guilt.
guilt over speeding or driving too aggressively,
guilt over not being 100% productive at work,
guilt over not being there for the small things in my daughter's life (like volunteering in her class),
guilt over not spending all my free time with Bridget,
guilt over going to the gym and not reading her bedtime stories,
guilt over not reading her bedtime stories when I am there, but too tired to read to her,
guilt over not being the perfect role model for my daughter,
guilt over being narcissistic and self centered in my teens and 20's,

guilt over things I said to people 15-20 years ago,

guilt over bothering people (e.g. this lady got mad at me at my WW meeting for talking after the meeting with another member, I felt awful all weekend),

guilt over spending money on frivolous items (e.g. buying a new song from iTunes or new workout shirts that I don't need),

guilt over being wasteful,

guilt over throwing out veggies that have gone bad in my fridge,

guilt over not eating a perfectly clean diet,

guilt over eating packaged food,

guilt over drinking diet cola,
guilt over eating a cookie or 'treat',
guilt over eating Activia yogurt, when I should be eating Greek yogurt with no sugars etc...

guilt over not being "perfect"

I know in the back of my head no one is perfect, but I feel like I should be for some reason... that it is  OK for others not to be perfect, but I should be perfect, that for some reason I should know better ...

Why is this?
Why can't I be happy that I have made an improvement over yesterday?
Why am I more forgiving with others than I am with myself?
Why can't I be more gentle on my soul?

Why do I think I am such a bad person for not being perfect?
Why do I beat myself up every night for things I said to people when I was at University??? (note I graduated in 1995) - I had a nightmare last night about this.

no one cares except me, why do I care so much that I am not perfect?