Wish you could see things from another perspective, breaking with your old habits?
Those habits die hard — yet they are uncomfortably familiar.
Carl Jung once said, “There is no growth without pain.” Perhaps that’s why we’re often afraid to grow — it’s painful. Makes sense, yet perhaps there is another way of coping with the growing pains that we all have to go through to face life’s challenges.
Share your growing pains with someone.
What if, for example, you decided today I am going to be nice to the office grump, even pay her a compliment.
What if instead of thinking about how poorly some people treat you, you break the habit of focusing on that emotional wound. Heal it by being the embodiment of kindness yourself.
Let’s say you make a decision to walk a mile or two every night. Everyone reads about how important daily exercise is these days, but it sure gets boring working out alone. Grab a friend, spouse or partner, and tell them you want company — don’t be shy about asking. Sharing what seems to be a chore might just turn into a pleasure!
One of the great challenges in life is to break the old self-conditioning of “coping with,” “dealing with” or “suffering through” things alone.
More and more we learn about the validity of the two-is-better-than-one concept. Our immune systems, our sense of well-being, our happiness all depend on depending on one another. In today’s psychology we call this idea “interdependency.”
Not dependent and not independent, but interdependent. Needing one another mutually.
Try a little refreshing interdependency — it makes life a whole lot easier all the way around.
Photo: Jacek Freyer