The Right Time

When do we know its the right time to move on, to leave the guilt behind and bury the ghosts of the past and step out into the light again? This is a question I have asked myself many times but I still cant really find the answer. Life has many twists and turns I know but I seem to get caught on all the turns, the guilt of the past still catches up with me. My guilt is centered around my children and the fact they did not get the best of starts in life. They saw a lot of violence and abuse in their young lives and it took me many years to take them away from it. People tell me how brave I was to get out when I did, but why doesn't it feel like that? I seem to focus on the negative things they have experienced rather than the positive influences that they are now exposed to every day. How do I change this way of thinking?