Happy Monday!
I hope you had a good weekend, perhaps filled with your favorite Fall festivities.
I spent the weekend cheering on our little athletes and playing characters at Halloween parties. I have to admit, I’m a little worn out from it all, but a good night’s sleep helped, as does the quiet I’ve carved out time for on Mondays.
Some of my fatigue I think comes from spending so much time with so many people outside of my direct circle. While I thrive on interactions with close friends and even strangers, I struggle being in a large crowd of acquaintances. It’s uncomfortable – the small talk, the expectations, and the ideas I think people already have of me – and when this discomfort overrides my desire to enjoy myself, it can sometimes be difficult to recover.
Perhaps you can relate to the feeling.
So what do we do?
My initial instinct is to run away and avoid discomfort the next time? But then how can I grow?
How can we find what feels good when we don’t feel good?
One quote that stands out when I ask myself this questions is:
“Grow comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
When we learn to sit with discomfort and accept it as a temporary part of our experience, it can become easier to overcome. Like that person in the clown mask roaming around the party this weekend. At first sight, it’s scary, but after a while, you get used to it. Maybe you even realize he’s just your friend playing make-believe, and while it’s still a little creepy, that initial fear fades away.
We discover these discomforts in meditation too. Physical pains or emotions pop up, or thoughts we would rather not have. At first we want to judge them – think of them as bad or wrong. But the more we practice, and the more we learn to accept and love ourselves, the more we realize that discomforts will always come up. They do not define us or our situation. We learn to coexist with them, and often they too will begin to fade – even if just for a moment. And when they come up again, as they so often do, we are more prepared because we have cultivated a deeper understanding of ourselves and our reactions. We realize, so what if we’re awkward. So what if we have nothing interesting to say right now. Maybe standing here with a smile on my face is enough for right now.
And then we take a deep breath.
And we begin again.
Have a beautiful week, my friend. May your interactions be meaningful and when they aren’t, may they be peaceful.
Much Love!
&
Bye for now.
❤️
