Befriend your discomfort…

Allowing ourselves to feel all of our feelings, not just the pleasant ones, can be a real challenge for many of us. When presented with the notion that allowing oneself to sit in uncomfortable feelings like regret, disappointment, sadness, fear, or grief and loss could help us move to a new place, you may feel some skepticism and also resistance. 

What if you allowed the resistance and skepticism to become your friends? Invited them into your consciousness as you would invite a new person into your home? Showered them with curiosity? Many of us would want to know where this person lives, what they do for a living or with their spare time, how they feel about it etc.

Is it possible that we can approach parts of ourselves with similar curiosity and openness that we would share with someone we do not know? 

There is a good chance that your resistance to your uncomfortable feelings has a story to tell, a fear to share. Listen. This part that exists inside of you simply needs to be seen, heard, validated and embraced so that it will soften and allow you to feel more of whatever it is that is there, and once you truly let yourself feel it, you can move forward. Maybe the resistance is worried that you will be overwhelmed with grief or disappointment and that you won't be able to handle that. This concern is valid, a part of us that wants to protect us from feeling too much. What if you ask the resistance you encounter to only allow 10% of the difficult feeling out for you to feel? This way, you won't be overwhelmed, but can slowly begin to know this feeling and to allow it to wash over and through you like the waves come in and out of the ocean during high and low tide. 

Befriending your discomfort, meeting it with curiosity and openness, learning about it and acknowledging what its purpose is will lead you down the path of loving kindness, heart opening and self love.