Daily Gratitude: “There is no
growth without discomfort.”

One could say this means “growing pains” are normal. And in a way, they are. Growth and change are so closely related that we should expect growth to hurt because we all know that change hurts. Even when it shouldn’t. Ha ha.

And then there’s the issue of pain vs discomfort. If you’ve put on a few pounds and your clothes are tight, you have “grown” and you may have both pain and discomfort. The discomfort would be in having to suck it in when you’re trying to button your pants. And then there’s the emotional pain of feeling you’ve failed etc.

I was being facetious but the point is that discomfort can be looked at in a positive way. Look up the two arrow theory if you don’t remember my post on that. Taking the emotional component out of pain helps to diminish the intensity and one way to do that is to try to find the positive in the situation causing the pain.

I’ve told you about my post shingles nerve pain and how horrific it was. But I’ve also told you all the good that came out of it. Did I see the good at the time it was happening ? No. But I wasn’t as wise as I am now. Seriously. This is not to say you have to be Pollyanna- not at all. Just try to look at what you’re going through in a different light if you can. And If you can’t, that’s all right too.

I think every day is a growing time. That’s why it’s helpful to do evening reviews. If we have to suffer, wouldn’t it be nice to see something good come from it?

Daily Gratitude: “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

We tend to get all bent out of shape over little things. Why is that? Because those little things seem gigantic when you’re facing them. That’s human nature. But it helps to realize that this thing that appears insurmountable may not be that big. If you can take a deep breath, step back a bit and ask yourself how much is this going to matter in a year (or use the 12 September 2001 question), you may be able to calm down and then, once the emotions are removed, you can see if it’s something worth expending energy on. Worry is wasted energy.

Ask yourself why this is so important right now? Is it logical or emotional? Is it something you can “come back to” later? Is it something that you can walk away from (overlook)? If not, why not?

Do you react to everything? If so, it’s probably your brain in survival mode. It’s hypervigilant. If you’ve had trauma in your life, then this is not surprising. Learn to calm your nervous system and then overlooking things will be easier.

Wouldn’t you like to save your energy for essential issues?

The beginning

Daily Gratitude: “The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion ….unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.

So it’s not surprising that nothing will or can happen if you don’t do anything. You remain an object at rest. If you want something to happen, you have to put some external force into play – in other words, you have to get started.

Once you begin doing something, your enthusiasm builds and you are no longer trying to figure out how you can quit. Something in you (maybe it’s just a dopamine hit) feels good that you’ve “finally” started doing that thing you’ve put off for so long.

I’ve found this to be true even when doing housework or other tasks that aren’t very interesting to me. It’s the fact that I’m actively moving and I’m not sure my mind cares about the “what” as long as I keep moving. I end up getting chores done this way.

If this is a project you are interested in, the joy of getting started is even greater. You need to feed off that energy to keep things going.

Also try to imprint the memory of how you feel doing it when it’s exciting. That way you can call on that imprinted emotion when you’re at rest again. It will entice you to start moving again. It’s a game to trick your mind but it works.