the bastard truth
4 minute read
It doesn't matter what the threshold is, if it leads to unfamiliar territory, then the chances are it is going to be uncomfortable, because in general, anything that is unknown is unpredictable, and everything that is unpredictable contains a potential threat.
So if you want real growth, authenticity, and transformation in life, you would do well to accept that the path there, at least some of the time, is going to be uncomfortable, and sometimes, our expereince of life can just feel fucking horrible.
I'm not suggesting it needs to be in the crossing of all worthwhile thresholds, or that every path will be that way, just that, real growth, authenticity, and transformation, invariably require us to face some sort of uncomfortable truth.
Despite all of the promises you found leaking out of the silver screen and into your dreams, the chances are, despite what Hollywood says, no one is coming to save you. That might be one.
Yes, there will likely be people who will show up right when you need them, but there may also be times when they don't. Just you, a locked door, torential rain, no shoes, and the howls of creature you woke in the forest that still appears to be holding a grudge.
While our power to shape the wider world is limited, we are still, to a significant degree, the authors of our lives - if only in how we respond to the ways life seems to want to shape us. Claiming as much agency as we can is a key to the door that helps us write each chapter as best we can.
The question of who is doing the authoring can present us with another uncomfortable truth to face.
How clear are you about who you truly are? Meaning, there are aspects of all of us that have been constructed - consciously and unconsciously - to keep us feeling safe and/or enough. Some of those aspects are doing a great job of it too, and we do well to leave them alone. Others, less so.
