I tried to do a few things differently in 2025.
Especially for moments or things that make me uncomfortable.
(Of course I don’t mean “times when I am in physical danger”.)
But I will run to The things my brain tells me: “This is uncomfortable, I don’t like it, avoid it at all costs.”
I am afraid to open the e -mail. The conversation that I am afraid of. The question I fear. The ability to be alone with my thoughts (Yikes).
When I grab my phone or Netflix or PlayStation Controller, so as not to be bored or uncomfortable or sad or guilty …
I try to build a discipline to go into a break first.
Not to avoid distracting or talking about what really happens.
Do not pay out or run away, Monty python Style.
When I have the courage to sit there and really ask the question: “Why do I feel uncomfortable?” There are valuable lessons to learn.
Lean in the discomfort
The author Pema Chodron creates the following in her book When things fall apart:
“We consider complaints in any form as bad news.
… feelings such as disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy and fear.
Instead of being bad news, these are actually very clear moments that teach us where we hold back. “”
These things can be incredible teachers if we give ourselves the room for learning.
But that is the question in 2025:
Thanks to the Internet and our telephones and delivery on the same day, we can spend every minute of the day to hide from almost every unpleasant feeling in our life. We never have to be bored, we never have to feel “bad”, we never have to address the elephants in the room.
We can simply wipe, click, type or disassemble to avoid all “bad” feelings.
We can hide from you with endless entertainment and comfort (even if it prevents us from getting what we really want).
Of course, these bad feelings do not disappear – they are still there, and the things we avoid must be treated at some point.
When I try to hide from discomfort, I know that I don’t really avoid it. I don’t keep it in the flakes.
I am caught with the monsters in Pandora’s box.
Blaise Pascal, a 17th century philosopher, said it best:
“All human problems are due to the inability of humans to sit alone in one room.”
These feelings try to teach us!
Shouting many feelings of the discomfort to teach us something when we can reorganize how we feel about them.
As Chodron emphasizes:
“They are like messengers that show us, with terrible clarity, Exactly where we were stuck.
This moment is the perfect teacher, and it’s happy for us wherever we are. “
Life has a way to do that calm, uncomfortable feeling Become louder and louder until we can’t help but speak …
But we can save ourselves a lot of time when we recognize the fear, remember earlier and try life to teach us something.
That is my challenge for you this week.
What if…
We asked: “I am Really Hungry or am I only calmed down with food? “
We admitted that we were anxious or fearful or nervous and then asked (with compassionate curiosity), which was behind the feeling?
Life tries to teach us lessons every day.
We just have to be brave enough to feel uncomfortable to see it.
-Steave
