Podcast Notes: How to Find Comfort When You’re Emotionally Uncomfortable

In difficult times, I do my best to find comfort in the uncomfortable moments. Join us on this podcast episode to learn how I cope when feeling emotionally uncomfortable.

I’ve realized over the years that I kind of crave being uncomfortable if that makes sense. But only to a certain extent. Why do I crave to be uncomfortable? And how can we learn to be comfortable in the uncomfortable moments?

On the podcast, we talked about the 3 main ways that people often feel when emotionally uncomfortable:

1. To only live in the comfortable moments and run away from anything uncomfortable.
2. To find a balance between comfortable and uncomfortable
3. To be afraid of the comfortable moments and run away from anything comfortable.

You want to try and be the second one; the balance between comfortable and uncomfortable. That’s the goal, but I don’t think any of us are there all the time.

I try to push myself to be in as much as I can. I used to be so much better at this, but in the last year or two, I got a little bit too uncomfortable and I started shying away from it. So now as I’m here, I’m realizing again how being uncomfortable can actually be a good thing.

why be uncomfortable?

The only way to really be happy is to figure out who you are. Right? And it’d be nice if we were all born into this world knowing exactly who we are, our passions, our truth, our values, our friends, but we’re not. So, if you wanna know who you are and really get to know yourself, it’s often uncomfortable. We’re not usually taught how to sit with ourselves, listen to our emotions, and understand them. So, unfortunately, a lot of times being happy means figuring out who you are… and that means getting uncomfortable.

No matter what, life has uncomfy moments. So if life is uncomfortable, why try and run away from that? Instead, take that leap of faith and hope it’s not a cliff.

Welcoming Discomfort

So if we’re putting intention to that discomfort, how can you do it? The first thing is to welcome it, to welcome discomfort. Hear me out. If you’re learning to be comfortable in the uncomfortable then you’re gonna feel a little bit less uncomfortable. And that’s the goal. So to do this, you want to welcome healthy discomfort.

How? Letting go of habits that mask your feelings. Things like gossiping, hating on others, holding grudges, etc. make you avoid feelings. Think about it. Often when you hate something or when you feel put down by someone, what you automatically want to do is to go put that person down too because that makes you feel like you have the upper hand. But this doesn’t help you heal.

So instead, let go of these habits. You are allowed to feel like your life is falling apart. You are allowed to feel uncomfortable. We all feel it at some point. So listen to it. Sit down with those emotions, feel them, and give yourself respect for them. Tell yourself it’s okay to feel these emotions because these are human emotions. Welcome the discomfort that is there.

And then, move on.

This doesn’t mean forgetting the pain, it means choosing to grow past it. Continue to be the best you can be even in this uncomfortable moment. It’s hard to do, but it’s usually the best thing you can do for yourself.

It’s okay to not be okay. And it’s also okay to keep pushing forward even in those not-okay moments. It’s okay to stumble and fall. But don’t stop and run back. Keep trying.

Acknowledge your insecurities

Just like you are judging other people in the last point, it’s the same thing for yourself. If I judge others when I am uncomfortable, I also often judge myself. When I am hurt, I am scared of my insecurities. So instead of putting up that barrier for yourself too, stop. Let yourself be uncomfortable. Focus on recognizing how you feel about insecurity and continuing to do your best to love yourself no matter what.

Work on yourself and become the best person you can be, while also loving yourself in the process instead of masking it and hurting yourself more.

Comparison

The only person that you need to be better than is the person that you were yesterday. Strive for growth, and strive to be a better person every day.

If you stick with the mindset that you have to be better than everyone else, you’re never gonna be happy. So next time you find yourself hating on someone else, ask yourself which one of my insecurities am I hiding by doing this? In my own life, I’ve noticed that when I am mad at someone else, it is usually because I am hurt and I am scared of that pain.

Ask yourself, why am I putting up this barrier? What emotion is it that I have that I am trying to hide from and is it fair to respond this way? Sometimes it might be, as long as you are conscious about it. It’s a hard thing to do. I struggle with it so much, but it’s important because being happy doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it.

want more tips when you’re emotionally uncomfortable? Listen to the full Podcast episode!

Not everything’s gonna be comfortable, but that’s not the goal. The goal is just to make it a little bit more manageable and go through life with healthy habits instead of bad ones.

So that’s my little pep talk today. That’s what I’ve been thinking about recently. Thanks for joining in on the podcast and I’ll see you next time.