There is discomfort which does not have a clear solution. Prolonged stress or pain that cannot be mastered can be traumatic.
As a cancer patient or survivor, you have likely confronted this situation. And as a person facing uncertainty in modern society, you may also feel overwhelmed by the unknown.
I know I am! As we prepare for my daughter’s senior year, there are many questions about what the future looks like. My husband continues to be a source of love and comfort and is stable within his diagnosis, but he still is scanned every 3 months. And every 3 months, we again face the unknown.
I wonder about my own role as a psychotherapist and yoga/meditation teacher. Should I continue? Are there people who will benefit or is that part of my life over? Post pandemic and in private practice, it’s been hard to know how to share what I’ve learned in my many personal experiences of cancer and from the hundreds of survivors I’ve known.
It’s uncomfortable to not know so many things! And yet, if you live long enough, it’s the existential question you get to face. How do I move forward into the unknown?
Facing the great unknown is basically THE existential task that humanity and each unique individual has grappled with from the time of cave men and women drawing what their lives were like: their animals, favorite moments, experience of the divine.
To find meaning in life requires first, the acknowledgment of the great unknown. But it can be scary. It can be uncomfortable.
But…What if there are profound psychological, physiological, and spiritual benefits to befriending your discomfort?
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