What Are You Unwilling To Feel?

This is a question worth reflecting on. What are situations you try to avoid? When do you look outside of yourself and turn to substances, busyness, food, and other bad habits as a coping mechanism to get through uncomfortable situations?

I decided to reflect on this for myself and this is what I came up with:

What am I unwilling to feel?
Stupid, incompetent/incapable

What has this made me avoid?
Trying new things, taking risks, asking questions, disagreeing with a popular opinion, putting my work out into the world for others to see.

What would happen if I faced these feelings?
I would try new things, take more risks, speak up more, I’d care less about what people think.

What can I do if I feel these things?
I can acknowledge that when I make mistakes I’m not a stupid person.
I can show myself grace when I learn something new and give myself time to learn it.
I can consistently expose myself to new experiences to remind myself that new experiences are not always as scary as I sometimes imagine them to be.
Remind myself that I’m learning and getting better and I’m growing.

This exercise made me realize the level of fear I feel when it comes to trying new things and taking a chance on my ideas. I’ve started a list of new things/experiences to try with a goal of learning or trying something new every day. This could be a simple as learning a new feature on WordPress or cooking with a new ingredient. I will get the benefits of learning or experiencing something new and acquiring the skill of showing myself grace.