How do you process confusion?
Updated: Apr 14, 2022
When we commit to our personal growth and lean into the difficult or messy parts of ourselves, our life and our history we can be confronted with feelings of confusion. Confusion can be the byproduct of a number of things. The list below are a few examples of where confusion is symptomatic, however this list is not exhaustive...
Suppression of emotions and memories
Conflict in experiencing polar emotions simultaneously in internal thought patterns
Unresolved trauma
Grief and bereavement
But even if you know the root of your confusion, how do you process this?
Feelings of confusion lead to frustration. This frustration is seated in resistance which is hard to rumble with and overcome.
The first concept that is worth introducing when you are experiencing this dynamic is to experience all your emotions with curiosity and not judgement. If we change the thought patterns in the experience, we can slowly break down this resistance. This is the goal, here. We want to move away from any forms of resistance to confusion in order to process and overcome your current blocks. It's worth mentioning here in order to manage expectations, this takes time. All behaviour and thought pattern changes takes time and lots of self-compassion.
Once you are comfortable with breaking this frustration down, I would like to introduce you to the idea of seeking acceptance. Acceptance brings peace.
I want you to begin to believe that two things can be true at once:
“I can be learning, and unlearning.”
“I can love you, and still have boundaries”
“I can be grieving, and still hold space for joy”
“I can be in my comfort zone, and still be growing”
“I can be afraid, and still be vulnerable”