4 Steps to Handle No-Fun Moments (also known as discomfort)

I was driving, grumbling at traffic, when I heard extreme screaming from the backseat. 

Being a mom, I took this pretty much in stride and only almost rear-ended the car in front of me instead of actually crashing. 

Luckily, nobody was being murdered; my daughter had just spilled a bottle of water on herself. Her shorts and the seat were soaked.

I thought things would be fine.  

They were not fine.

This was Defcon-245, red-alert, serious emergency time. WET SHORTS. Worst thing ever. Lots of crying.

I get it; wet shorts suck. Especially if you have to wear them in your fun parkour class for an hour. 

However, I also know that life is going to dish out some serious discomfort for my girl over the next many years. There’s no getting around it. 

So, I gave her a choice. 1. Go to parkour class and have fun, but with wet shorts. 2. No fun parkour class, but we go home and get dry shorts. 

Then I told her I really thought she could handle the wet shorts. Why miss the fun just because you’re uncomfortable? 

Dealing with discomfort is a skill. I teach my clients how to do it when they’re suffering physically or emotionally. 

When our bodies hurt, when we feel stressed, or when life dishes out some form of discomfort, we need a ninja mind-body mindset to move forward until the discomfort dissipates.

Discomfort doesn’t leave when we want it to. It’s stubborn. 

I like to know I have the ninja skill of working through discomfort. It gives me peace of mind and confidence in my resilience. 

Here’s a little ninja tip for today, in case you, too, spill water on your shorts. (END OF THE WORLD!)

Mind-Body Ninja Tip for Handling Discomfort 

When pain, discomfort, or stress shows up, meet it with these four steps:

1. Allow yourself to be bummed/mad/sad/whatever that you’re in discomfort. Take a few moments to write or say how you feel about it and why. 
2. Notice that the place of discomfort in your body has a center and it has edges. Wherever it is in your body, find the outer edges of the discomfort. Don’t go into the very yucky center of it. 
3. Say to yourself: “I can do discomfort.” This immediately allows you to not fight the discomfort. 
4. Focus on something that gives you comfort. You’re allowing the current discomfort, but you’re also letting your mind focus on something that soothes you. 

And, of course, if you want more mind-body magic tips and tools, hop on over to the free Mind-Body Magic Facebook Group.