11 - Be Comfortable in Your Own Company
50 Years, 50 Lessons
Lesson 11: Be Comfortable in Your Own Company
When was the last time you sat with yourself? No phone. No book. No TV. No company. Just you.
For some people, this is unnerving and uncomfortable.
For me, my brain races. It tells me what else I should be doing. How sitting alone is unproductive. How wasteful that time is. It pulls my thoughts in every direction while I fight my instinct to flee.
If I can put off the discomfort long enough, eventually I settle in, relax, and take a deep breath. I challenge myself to stay.
Being comfortable in your own company is a skill. And if you don’t like your own company? Or your own thoughts? Or are unable to sit with yourself in silence? You have some work to do.
Peace with ourselves and with our thoughts is a mandatory part of being able to sort through our emotions, to feel what is underneath the function (or lack thereof), and to have hard conversations with what we need to do.
If we challenge ourselves and our presence inside, then we are more comfortable being challenged by others on the outside.
And challenges come. They happen daily. At work. At home. Sometimes just taking a second to go deep before reacting, responding, or judging will set the stage for a faster resolution or a more successful outcome.
If you can’t be comfortable with yourself, you will be challenged to be comfortable with others, or worse – for them to be comfortable with you.
Coaching Thoughts
What pressing problems are in front of you? When can you find space to think through them on your own, and without distraction?
How much time do you need in your schedule to sit with yourself? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?
How do you feel when your phone is not near you, or when you try to have “nothing” to do?
What comes up for you when you are alone?
Your turn:
What does sitting with yourself look like?
To All: Thank you for being on this journey with me – past, present, and future.
Julie
