Avoidance

​I have come face to face in the past month with the realisation that many people live in a state of avoidance.

The obvious example is relationships, people avoid relationships that make them uncomfortable. They avoid people that bring out qualities within themselves that they don't like: judgement, fear, impatience, anger. While it is helpful to walk away from people that no longer fit in our lives, the abandonment of that relationship prematurely means that this person will face similar situations with similar people in the future and the cycle will repeat itself.

People among my generation more readily now quit jobs that make them uncomfortable. This avoidance might come from inability to deal with a specific type of stress, the feelings some coworkers are inducing or even fear of failure. While it is good to follow our destiny by doing what we love the most, if a skill, situation or feeling is making us uncomfortable, it is worth exploring and working on before making any decisions. It will after all, follow us wherever we go.

The last  avoidance I want to speak about today is the one I find most interesting: temptation. I find that people withdraw themselves from people, places and situations that they are afraid will "tempt" them. While this is a first step in doing what we believe is right and building our characters the way we want, they are a clear sign that we have not yet built the complete faith in what we believe in yet.

Allow me to explain: someone that believes in God completely, will not reject the idea of going into a mosque, temple or church, the faith is strong and cannot be changed. Someone that believes in eating healthy completely will not reject walking into a fast food chain because they will not be tempted. I find it interesting when someone has a jerk reaction towards a certain temptation because to me, it's a clear sign that the belief is not stable yet.

May we all face all that makes us uncomfortable with wisdom, resilience and courage. 

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