Confusion

Sensation:

Confusion is the co-existence of opposing feelings and desires, be it fear and attraction, happiness and loss or hope and despair. While it is natural to have opposing feelings in a given context, the belief that opposing feelings should not exist may create confusion and discomfort as a result. At times, only one of our feelings are known to us, while the other is hidden from our conscious thoughts.

Tell

Signs:

If you are confronted with confusing feelings, you may:

  • Act inconsistently
  • Experience a loss of centre from where decisions could be made easily
  • Contradict yourself, being inconsistent in speech and action, such as
    • Saying one thing and doing another
    • Saying opposite things at different times and in different contexts
    • Saying or doing things which are against your beliefs

Self-care practices:

There are a few things you can do to not let the confusion overwhelm and stress you out:

  1. Allow time and space to reflect so that the range of feelings and contradictory beliefs can emerge into consciousness.
  2. Make room for both feelings that you are experiencing, allow yourself to feel them both fully, without rejecting one or the other.
  3. If fear or doubt emerges, allow it space, it may dissolve as an imagined worry or it may show you what is most important to you.
  4. Try to prioritise what is more important in a given situations by identifying the order of things: what is an emergency, what is important and what is rather secondary. Put first things first.