Why We Tolerate and How to Stop

<p>We have this one, precious human life...at least in <i>this</i> body, on <i>this</i> miraculous planet, with these unique whacky people in our community around us.</p><p>Yet too many of us spend this amazing opportunity <i>tolerating things that no longer serve us.</i></p><p>We tolerate our limiting mindsets, behaviors, and situations that no longer serve our highest good. We tolerate our negative self-talk, the soul-sucking job, the “good enough” relationship, the toxic friends, the lover that’s just not that into us. </p><p>We tolerate our unhealthy habits like not exercising when we say we will, not meditating as often as we’d like, emotional eating, or overdrinking (which used to be my personal favorite) and over-Netflixing (my current favorite). </p><p>And because how we do anything is how we do everything, we are more likely to tolerate the sexist comment made to our colleague by the boss, or the racist remark we overhear at the dinner party, or the crappy healthcare system. </p><p>Why do we do this?</p><p>It’s actually really odd, because humans are not built to tolerate. On the contrary, we are built to be brave and to go out into the world and evolve and make a difference. We want to feel we are making the most of life and our potential. We crave a life of freedom, adventure, and purpose. We all have that Universal source within us - our Buddha nature  - and we <i>want</i> to realize it. In fact, it can be a big source of suffering when we don’t. </p><p>While our nature is to want to evolve, there’s a problem we encounter while trying to  tap into our highest potential - and it’s called OUR BRAIN. Its primitive parts want to keep us safe so we survive. It wants us to stay very, very safe and not do anything to rock the boat. Which is quite handy...until it’s not.</p><p>Because not tolerating means taking risks and potentially feeling awkward. Or embarrassed. Or even humiliated or disliked. Evolution requires going into the unknown, being willing to adventure and not know what the outcome will be with