Let’s Talk About Avoidance–What Does It Mean To Face The Unfaceable?
Long ago, the Earl of Oxford approached the illustrious throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I.
He knew courtly manners inside and out, had likely performed perfect bows a hundred times before. He knelt low before his Queen, graceful and poised…
And he ripped ass. Really ripped ass. It was a death-con red, earth-shattering, breaking-the-sound-barrier fart.
Like any reasonable person, he responded to this incident by leaving the country for seven years. I mean, what was he supposed to do? Apologize? Laugh? Just…get over it?! No, he had to avoid his shame by disappearing for the better part of a decade.
All flatulence aside, avoidance is a reaction that is both rational and completely idiotic. It feels like the only option we have when faced with stressful decisions, but from an outside perspective avoidance is clearly a spectacular waste of time and energy.
So, let’s stop avoiding the topic (see what I did there?). I’m here to provide a bit of perspective and a few solutions to this perennial struggle. At the end of the day, avoidance is natural. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.
If only someone had told that to Ye Olde Earle of Fartford.
