We all know that life is not always comfortable.
Sometimes the discomfort comes from outside ourselves. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s raining. Someone blew up the Boston marathon and we start worrying whether or not it’s safe to go out in a large crowd. We look at our bank statement, we read the news – there’s plenty to keep our mind going to give us the impression that things, as they are in the moment, are really not O.K.
At other times, however, the discomfort that we feel comes literally from inside.
In menopause, as I am now, sometimes we experience sudden and unexpected hot flashes.
Throughout our life we may feel hungry, angry, lonely or tired or any other of 100 different degrees of discomfort that we may or may not be able to label, describe or exactly put our fingers on what they are all about.
If we are unable to handle the discomfort of life, we may assuage the discomfort by distracting ourselves.
This past weekend, after church, my partner and I tried to find a restaurant for lunch. The only restaurant we could find that was open at the time had probably 50 different television sets broadcasting into the seating area. You could hardly hear your own thoughts, much less the voice of the person sitting next to you.
If we aren’t in a crowded noisy restaurant, we may shift our attention off our own discomfort by over working, over exercising, overeating, taking drugs (both legal or illegal), drinking alcohol, spending money, surfing the internet, reading a book or talking on the phone.
What if we were simply able to be with what we are feeling and let the feeling go as it passes through us?
When we can feel all our feelings, including the uncomfortable ones, without needing to eat, drink, over exercise or over work or any other of our soft and harmful addictions, we simply increase our ability to handle life.
We get strong on the inside.
One simple way to get strong on the inside is to have a place in your home where you can be by yourself.
A friend in Arizona recently emailed me a picture of an altar she had built in her home.
For me, it’s my hammock on my porch (where I am now lying with my laptop to write this article).
For others, it may be your office with a door that you can shut.
Maybe it’s just a corner of your own bedroom or a rocking chair where you can sit.
Sometimes you may sit in this place and think and sometimes you may sit and do nothing.
Either way, the more you give yourself permission to be with yourself, the more you expand your ability to handle all your emotions and the more you strengthen your ability to know you can handle whatever life brings you.
If we feel our feelings and simply practice experiencing them and then letting them pass, we can allow the energy that causes dis-ease to pass through us and we become healthier, both mentally and physically.
Practice feeling all your feelings as they arise and letting them go one by one.
It’s the simplest form of natural cure there is. Natural treatment, no drugs or therapist required.
