Blame Is A Way To Discharge Pain And Discomfort

Blame - A Way To Discharge
Pain And Discomfort

I recently saw a video of a speech given at the TED conference by Brene Brown on vulnerability. (To view the video, click this link) It is an excellent 20 minute video that you should see.  In the video, she talked about how blame plays into vulnerability.  It is easier to blame someone or something or some entity and cause, rather then understand the dynamics of what is going on behind the scenes.

According to Brene Brown, blame is a way to discharge pain and discomfort.  Think about that for a moment.  We live in a society today that is blaming everyone and everybody for everything.  If any issue is written about or discussed in the news, there are usually two sides presented and commented.  It is those that completely agree and those that disagree.  There is no middle ground in the discussion.  It is either one way or another way.  You really don't have to look far to find evidence of this in your day.


Pain and discomfort is part of our world.  I don't think you can have a world without these things because if you didn't have pain, how would you know pleasure.  If you didn't have discomfort, would you know what comfort meant?  I think life is about a balance where we have pain and discomfort, but then they lead us to times of pleasure and comfort.  One without the other is like trying to understand the concept of an automobile, if you have never seen one.

We have all had rough experiences in life and moments where we felt like we were bruised  to the bone.  As part of the healing process, blame and discomfort is usually present.  Blame gives us a highly flammable fuel to heal our bruises.  However, if all we are doing is burning this highly flammable fuel at a high rate, we will burn out.  When we burn ourselves out, we become trapped by the blame of an event that bruised us.  It is important for us to see our vulnerable side and understand that our blame is a way to discharge pain and discomfort.  We need not become the blame, but use it as a transformational step to pleasure and comfort in our lives.

I know it is not easy but the next time you look at the media news reports or have an impulse to comment on the internet, think about what you are listening to and saying.  Are you part of the blame game?  Is your comment or participation nothing more than blame being a way to discharge pain and discomfort you are feeling?  What would our world be, if we all took a step back and dealt with the bruises in our own life, before we projected them on to the remainder of the world?  Imagine just how much our life could help to change the world in a positive way.

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