Blog for Monday's (6/16) Class

Present in class...

Q: How do you negotiate the feeling of being uncomfortable?

A: (348 words) As thinking, breathing humans, we all encounter uncomfortable situations throughout our lives. However, our personalities, upbringings, and societal norms determine just how we act and react in those situations. What I feel and think might vary greatly from the man in Charlotte to the woman in Bangladesh to the boy in Caracas.

In my own situation, I’d say it depends almost exclusively on the social situation in which the problem arises. If the people who I have met and know well, it can admittedly be a more difficult situation, one in which I have a tough time balancing the needs of others versus my own needs. I many times find myself subject to the thoughts and feelings of others if it means I can avoid causing trouble or “rocking the boat”. I think this is born from my natural tendency toward introversion, as well as my innate urge to please others. In the polarizing ends of the “fight or flight” spectrum, I’m sad to admit I find myself on the “flight” end of things.

As far as my ability to handle uncomfortable situations in settings in which I have little or no connection to the people around me, it’s almost as if a new person is born. I find myself more open to discussion, more willing to engage in discussion beyond the niceties of everyday chit-chat. Mind you, I don’t suddenly become a roving preacher of my perfectly enlightened thought, but rather, I simply feel more comfortable to offer what I feel I have learned and understood in my short time on this earth. A healthy back and forth that I admittedly will shy away from in my afore mentioned closer social relationships.

Ultimately, I think it is universally in any individual’s best interest to open up to their feelings, to push beyond the comfort zone in which they live, whether it be in expressing their thoughts, or processing the thoughts of others. Leave no well-considered statement unsaid or no passionate counter thought unheard, and you really should have no reason to second guess yourself in the end.

Matt