“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
— James Baldwin, Remember This House
I had a situation at work last fall that I kept not dealing with — a dynamic that was quietly draining, a conversation I kept pushing to next week. I told myself I was waiting for the right moment. Really I was hoping it would resolve itself if I gave it enough space. It did not give itself enough space.
When I finally had the conversation it took twenty minutes and was uncomfortable and then it was over. I’d spent three months making it larger in my head than it turned out to be in reality. I do this regularly. I am trying to do it less.The thing you’re avoiding is almost always smaller than the avoiding of it.