Let’s be honest: numbing out is easy.
Netflix, scrolling, another drink, a packed schedule, busying ourselves with good things—anything to avoid the ache, the anger, the questions, the sadness.Avoiding is easy.
But feeling?
Feeling is hard.And it’s also better.I’ve spent a lot of my life learning how to sidestep discomfort. I got good at showing up for others while quietly ignoring what was unraveling inside of me. I smiled while struggling. I worked while hurting. I performed while pretending. And the truth is—it worked… for a while.Until it didn’t.Until my body, my relationships, and my faith started raising their hands like, “Hey… something’s not right here.”That’s when I realized:
Feeling is what heals us. Avoiding is what delays us.
Avoiding emotions gives us the illusion of control.
We tell ourselves, “I’ll deal with that later.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“I don’t have time to feel that right now.”But pain doesn’t disappear just because we ignore it.
It just goes underground. And the thing about buried emotions? They don’t stay buried. They come out sideways. In how we speak. How we react. How we cope.Avoiding might feel safer, but it’s not healing. It’s hiding.
Feeling takes courage.
It means sitting in the sadness without trying to fix it.
It means admitting, “That really hurt me,” even when no one else sees it.
It means giving yourself permission to be human—flawed, fragile, and still fully worthy of love.When I finally let myself feel—really feel—it didn’t break me. It actually began to un-break me.Tears that I thought would drown me actually made space for peace.
Anger that I was afraid would consume me turned into clarity.
Fear that I had tried to outrun became a doorway to deeper faith.
Some of us were taught—explicitly or quietly—that God only wants our praise. That we need to be "strong" and "grateful" all the time. But the Psalms tell a different story. Lament, frustration, doubt—they’re all part of a real, honest walk with God.If you’re feeling something right now that scares you, just know this: God isn’t scared of it.
He’s not waiting for you to get it together. He’s just waiting for you to stop running.
Let me also say this: I’m not here to shame you for how you’ve coped.
Sometimes, numbing out is the best we can do at the time. And that’s okay. But when you’re ready—when the moment comes to feel—it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.Start small. Be gentle with yourself.
Cry if you need to. Journal. Talk to someone you trust. Sit in silence and just let your soul breathe.Healing happens one honest moment at a time.
Feeling is tougher than avoiding.
But it’s also more beautiful.
More freeing.
More faithful.It’s how we come back to ourselves.
It’s how we reconnect with God.
It’s how we stop living afraid of the next wave and start learning how to surf it—with grace, grit, and maybe even a little joy.If you're in a season where you're learning how to feel again, I’m right there with you.
No shame. No pressure. Just permission. And presence.You’re not alone. You’re not too much.
And feeling?
Feeling is how we heal.—John