Teachers of Discomfort

Disappointment

is a gift.
It removes illusion and reveals truth.
It sharpens the perception of reality.
It deepens the contact with the world.
The more disappointment you can tolerate
the luckier you’ll be.

Anger

is a signal that you’re not respecting your own boundaries.
It is not a sign that another person is hurting you.
It’s a sign that you’re hurting yourself
by tolerating something you shouldn’t.
Hear your own NO before your face turns red.
Or after... But hear it.

Sadness

is just an indication that you need to grieve.
You may think you’re depressed
but have you tried ripping your hair out?
Collapsing in tears in front of a group of people
is not to be underestimated.

Pain

There is no healing without pain.
There’s no growth without discomfort.
The wound is where the work is.
Find your window of tolerance
and visit it often.
Pain is the line that leads to coherence.
Some of the most painful things to learn
are some of the most valuable things to know.

Shame

shows what needs to be unconcealed.
Step into the light.
Those who see it will either appreciate it,
or they are assholes.
It’s useful either way.

Fear

is a compass for expansion.
Embrace it.
Face it.
Pierce it.

Hope

There are two kinds of hope.
The desperate kind that yearns
for a miraculous rescue.
And then there’s clean hope.
A hope of a possibility working out.
One is an anxious hope.
The other one is a calm hope.
You can call it faith if you believe in it.

Boredom

Emptiness is capacity.
Absence is the best kind of presence.
The smaller the stimulus you perceive,
the less of it you need.
Boredom hides the life
that no longer needs to be escaped.

Envy

If you don’t know what you want
envy will conveniently show you.

Confusion

is how models get upgraded.
Certainty gets stale quicker than whipped cream.

Exhaustion

Listen to the whispers,
so you don’t hear the screams.

Joy

The scariest of them all!
The more you earn it,
the less you let yourself have it.
Joy asks for nothing,
maybe that’s why it’s so difficult to trust.