Of course, no one can predict everything that will happen in their life, body, family, home, car, community, etc., no matter HOW much we wish we could “control” our environments. However, many of the “negative surprises” that we encounter in our lives, bodies, families, homes, etc. are actually “tolerations.”
What are tolerations?
Tolerations are challenges, situations, and even people (and animals) you “put up with” in your daily life that cause friction/stress/dis-ease. They are often difficult to identify because we have become accustomed to them. Tolerations annoy us, yet we often do not consider them “pressing enough” to resolve, until something elevates them to an “emergency.”
Let me give you an example.
You have a chip in your windshield of your car, and it’s on the passenger side. It’s small, and it’s “not a big deal,” and in the grand scheme of life, it isn’t. So … you ignore it and learn to “tolerate it.” But… every time you notice the chip, you say to yourself, “Oh yeah! I gotta get that fixed someday.” Everytime you notice the chip in the windshield, your brain is sending you a small “ping” of negative energy. That negative ping is amplified if you feel you somehow “caused” the initial damage or you’re frustrated with the person who caused the challenge at hand. (If you are a person who takes care of this kind of thing right away, where are the other “windshield chips” in your life?)
Then one day, a rock hits that chip just right, and suddenly you have a large crack across your windshield, and wouldn’t you know it?! It hits EXACTLY at your line of vision on the driver’s side, and now that “chip” (aka toleration) is a BIG deal, and it’s impacting your vision, especially in the winter. Now you’re trying to schedule a time asap with your auto mechanic to get your windshield replaced, and suddenly you feel like “Murphy” is hanging out with you (referring to “Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will”).
But is this really a case of Murphy’s Law? I don’t believe it is because… you tolerated the chip in your windshield for a long time before the crack occurred.
When you “tackle tolerations,” i.e., work on closing the loop on completing/repairing the tasks, behaviors, situations in your body, home, car, family life, work life, etc., you will have increased surge of energy and joy in your life! 😊
Here are some additional benefits of tackling one’s tolerations:
- More Focus
- Save Money, Energy, and Time
- More Life Balance
- More Physical Space in your Home/Office/Car
- Improved Health
- Increased Opportunities and Growth
- Fewer Distractions
- Great Modeling for Children / Family / Friends / Employees
Next time you walk around your home, sit in your car, think about your work environment, look around and see if you can begin noticing/seeing your tolerations. (Like many situations in life, it’s often easier to see other people’s tolerations, so if you can’t see easily see your own, consider asking a loved one for their gentle observations of your environment.)
Awareness is the first step toward making any change in one’s life/behaviors, and in my next blog, I’ll give you suggestions on how you can begin tackling your tolerations, so that Murphy leaves you alone and you have more POSITIVE surprises in your life (rather than negative ones).
