It’s been a rough two months, and during it all, I’ve been thinking a lot about caregiving and compassion. By that I don’t just mean simply compassion toward others, as important as that is. I mean compassion toward oneself. In reflecting on this, I’ve begun to believe that guilt in a caregiving situation may be […]
Category Archives: Discomfort Series
Compassion, Discernment, Discomfort Series, Finding Your Balance, Finding Your Own Path, Health & Fitness, Lessons Learned Along the Way, Self-Awareness
How Do You Treat Yourself When You Fall Down?
15
Dec
Dec
Failures, mistakes, embarrassing fumbles – we’ve all been there. We’ve all found ourselves in that agonizing moment of realizing that we just put our foot in it… or made a thoughtless error… or got rejected… or failed to produce our intended result – or, or, or… the list goes on. These things happen to all […]
Compassion, Discernment, Discomfort Series, Lessons Learned Along the Way, Resilience, Self-Awareness
The Gift of Discomfort
30
Nov
Nov
Have you ever noticed how desperately we as human beings want to make things better for people we care about? I’m thinking of those times when someone we love tells us something that feels painful or defeated or self-critical or stuck. It’s so natural for many of us to jump instantly into soothing or problem-solving […]
Compassion, Discernment, Discomfort Series, Finding Your Own Path, Self-Awareness
The Challenge of Personal Responsibility
15
Aug
Aug
What does it mean to take personal responsibility? And perhaps more importantly, what does it require of us? It is easy – and often familiar – to come at the world from a place of being constantly “at the effect” of the things that happen in it. This includes events over which we feel powerless, […]
Discomfort Series, Finding Your Balance, Health & Fitness, Resilience, Self-Awareness
Rethinking Stress – It’s Not All Bad
15
May
May
How do you define ‘stress’? And why do we talk about it as if it’s necessarily a bad thing? What impact does this have on our interpretation of the situation we’re in when we experience stress? And what impact does that interpretation and experience have on our long-term health? What is ‘stress’ anyway? One of […]
Discernment, Discomfort Series, Finding Your Balance, Inspiration, Self-Awareness
Frustration: The Invisible Trigger
16
Apr
Apr
Frustration is an under-appreciated emotion. The emotions that typically demand our attention are the power players, like anger, joy, love, sadness, and fear. We tend to give certain “secondary” emotions like happiness, longing, boredom, and shame significant air time as well, especially when it comes to explaining our behaviors and desires. Those discussions and insights […]