Accepting emotional discomfort

“Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests and falls in a series of waves.

Each wave washes a part of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined.

Out goes naivete, in comes wisdom;

out goes anger, in comes discernment;

out goes despair, in comes kindness.

No one would call it easy,

but the rhythm of emotional pain that we learn to tolerate

is natural, constructive and expansive…

The pain leaves you healthier than it found you.”

Martha N. Beck