The Price of Avoidance 🏹

"We cannot selectively numb emotions. When we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions." — Brené Brown

"Emotions, even the most painful ones, are not enemies to be defeated but messages to be interpreted. Repression offers temporary relief but long-term stagnation; acknowledgment, however difficult, is the path to freedom."

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You ever try to shove a spring down and hold it there?

Feels like control at first.

But the second you let go, it explodes back up with twice the force.

That’s how emotional repression works. You think you’re managing it. You think you’ve got it under wraps. But the truth is, that feeling is still there.

And the longer you push it down, the more power it gains.

A guy I knew growing up was the classic “nothing bothers me” type. Cool, detached, never let anything phase him. Until one day, out of nowhere, he lost it; blew up over something trivial.

Walked away from a relationship he’d built for years.

Why?

Because all those swallowed feelings didn’t disappear. They just waited. They stacked up, brick by brick, until they built a wall so thick, even he couldn’t see what was real anymore.

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So here’s the challenge:

Next time you feel the urge to shove an emotion aside, stop. Acknowledge it. Not in some grand, dramatic way—just with honesty.

Try this:

1. Name It. (Frustration, grief, resentment, fear—get specific.)

2. Locate It. (Where do you feel it in your body? Tight jaw? Clenched stomach?)

3. Give It a Sentence. ("Right now, I feel overwhelmed because I don’t feel heard.")

That’s it. No need to fix it right away. Just recognizing it shifts the dynamic. You stop running from the feeling and start understanding it.

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"We cannot selectively numb emotions. When we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions." — Brené Brown

If you silence the bad, you silence the good. That’s the trade. And it’s never worth it.

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What’s an emotion you’ve been avoiding lately? No pressure to explain why—just name it. Drop it in the comments. Let’s take one step toward recognition together.

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You don’t have to fight your feelings.

You don’t have to fix them right away, either.

But ignoring them is a slow way to self-destruct.

So sit with them. Listen. Because on the other side of acknowledgment is freedom.

— Ryan Puusaari

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