If you took my course,
Develop unshakable confidence,
You know that I'm an incredibly optimistic guy.
Lots of my shares on Insight Timer and throughout are really motivating and helping you to see the positive.
While inspiration is great,
If we're doing the work toward wholeness,
We learn personal growth is not always uplifting.
Many times it's downright uncomfortable.
If we focus only on the positive,
We may bypass what really needs our work.
If you're wanting to dive into your growth from every angle,
A tough but powerful question to ask yourself is,
What are you not willing to feel?
I know,
It's not the most fun journaling prompt.
There's obvious resistance.
It may bring up a whole bag of stuff that we've consciously or unconsciously put under the rug.
But finding out what we can't be with helps to shift that pattern.
Because the next question becomes,
What would happen if I let myself feel this?
As musician Dustin Thomas says,
The only way to free your pain is to feel your pain.
Feeling what we can't be with disrupts our coping mechanisms and instead allows the energy to flow.
From this space,
We stop running away from our feelings,
We deal with our issues,
And create stronger resilience.
Of course,
You're wondering,
Lou,
What are you not willing to feel?
The easy answer is boredom.
We don't see boredom as something to feel rather than a reason to do something.
We're so afraid of boredom that we've basically taken it out of play.
When we're bored,
We can reach for our phones and get instant relief.
For me,
There's also a color of boredom that comes from being unproductive.
If it's a weak day,
It's uncomfortable not progressing towards some goal.
What we're not willing to feel controls us.
If I can't be with feeling unproductive,
My productivity becomes my escape.
I'm not advocating that we should want negative feelings,
But as humans,
We're meant to feel the whole spectrum of emotion.
Acknowledging the most difficult feelings brings them out of the dark so our impulses don't run the show.
If you'd like to do some difficult but profound self-work,
Take some time this week and ask yourself,
What am I not willing to feel?
The more you're like,
No,
Lou,
I'm not doing that.
The more that there actually may be something here for you.
I want to caution that this can bring up some stuff,
So I encourage you to be in a good headspace,
Be kind to yourself,
And as always,
Reach out if you need some support.
If strong feelings do come up as you reflect,
My practice called be gentle may help you be with them in a supportive way.
As always,
I thank you so much for your time and your precious attention.
If you're on Insight Timer and you use the circles function,
I'd love for you to join my circle.
It's just search Lou's Circle and you'll find me and an inspiring group of community that is on this beautiful space that we call Insight Timer.
So I thank you so much for sending you love and support as always.
Namaste.
