Embracing Paradox

Inner Archeology with Sarah Turner & Emily Pennystone

This may be news to you… but embracing paradoxes is normal. Actually, even more than that, it’s the key to a happier life! Hear about some paradox examples and learn why having this approach will improve the quality of your life.

Key Points In Episode:

• Today’s episode of Inner Archeology revolves around embodying and holding space for paradox. You’ll hear Emily and Sarah share some paradox examples.
• Do you think in black and white terms? Emily believes that, by doing that, we sometimes create pain for ourselves because we limit our ability to experience a lot of joy and pleasure in life. Oh, and Sarah sees this as one of the key pieces to happiness.
• #Fact: embracing paradoxes can help when our mind makes limiting claims. It’s possible to be sad while also experiencing happiness in other areas of your life – even though our brain wouldn’t like for us to feel it, and may make us feel guilty afterward…
• Sarah thinks that it’s very hard to have a lot of judgment toward other people and genuinely be happy. Do you agree?
• Another area some people struggle with is when they would like to experience happiness but tread carefully because they don’t want others, who are having it bad, to feel sad or offended by it. An example of this is a woman who’s happy with breastfeeding her baby but limits her joy because breastfeeding can be an issue for so many other women. It's not your fault and you shouldn’t stop feeling happy!
• Want to know what really pissed Sarah off during the pandemic? The inability of both sides – people pro-vaccines and those against them – to listen to the other side and realize that there were truths on both sides. The saddest part is that, at the end of the day, both sides were focusing on the same thing: avoiding doing something harmful.
• This is a #BigTruth Sarah shared: “If you’re interested in making real change, the answer isn’t to be angry and yell and people who think differently… It’s about being able to hear different perspectives and have conversations.”
• This may be tough for you to hear but when you realize that to be human is to be a walking paradox, you’re going to feel lighter and happier in the long run.
• When you live using a binary way of thinking, where everything that there’s in this world is either what you deem to be good, truthful and valuable or the opposite, you live in a pinhole and constantly feel those things as sort of threatening.
• On the other hand, when you realize that the world is rich and full of uniqueness, nuances and complexities – including those you don’t fully understand or would follow yourself – and you understand that different things can coexist, you get to live a more liberating, richer, and deeper life.
• You can be successful while experiencing imposter syndrome or you can be happy while also experiencing some confusion, uncertainty, or anxiety. We’re complex beings and that’s a beautiful thing – repeat this as a mantra!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Inner Archeology Email

Sarah Turner on Instagram

Emily Pennystone on Instagram

@Inner.Archeology on Instagram

InnerArcheology.com

InnerArcheology.tv (video version)

patreon.com/InnerArcheology

Inner Archeology on YouTube