Rule 4 of 22 · Chapter I — On Attention
Notice what you keep avoiding
Why this rule exists
The thing I keep walking past is usually the thing that matters most. Avoidance is a signal, not a personality flaw. When I dodge a task again and again, it is rarely because it is hard; it is because it is tender, or because I am afraid of what I will find. What I avoid tends to grow in the dark. Naming it shrinks it back to a manageable size.
In practice
When I catch myself flinching away from something for the third time, I stop and ask what the flinch is about. Usually it is fear, or a decision I don't want to make. I try to name the smallest next step and take just that one, so the avoided thing stops being a wall and becomes a door.
When it doesn't apply
Sometimes you avoid a thing because it genuinely isn't yours to carry. Not every discomfort is a summons. Learn the difference between the task you are dodging and the one you should simply put down.