Why the Thing That Gives You Relief Today Creates Trouble Tomorrow

Avoidance gets a bad rap. But here’s the problem: avoidance works.

Don’t send the email. Don’t make the ask. Don’t have the uncomfortable conversation. Say “it’s fine” and move on.

And almost immediately, you feel better.

That relief is exactly what makes avoidance such an effective self-preservation strategy—and why we keep returning to it. But the thing we avoided rarely disappears. Instead, we may be teaching ourselves that the discomfort itself is something we can’t handle.

In this bite-sized episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, we look at why avoiding discomfort can feel so good in the moment, how short-term relief can create bigger problems later, and what changes when we become more willing to stay with discomfort instead of immediately trying to escape it.

Because sometimes the very thing you’re doing to protect yourself from discomfort is also protecting you from the result you want.

Your Bypassing Bite:
Where am I choosing short-term relief at the expense of long-term freedom?

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Join the community:
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Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright

Spiritual Bypassing and the Feelings We’d Rather Not Feel

What if “staying positive” isn’t always as healthy as it sounds?

In this first installment of Bypassing Bites, a five-part mini-series from The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, we’re looking at spiritual bypassing—the ways we can use positivity, gratitude, forgiveness, spirituality and even personal-growth language to avoid feelings we’d rather not feel.

Sometimes “I’m choosing gratitude” really is gratitude. Sometimes “I’ve let it go” really does mean we’ve let it go.

And sometimes we’re trying to skip over the anger, hurt, disappointment or fear underneath it.

In this bite-sized episode, we explore the difference between genuinely moving through an emotion and trying to get to the other side of it before we’ve actually allowed ourselves to feel it.

Because emotional mastery isn’t about feeling good all the time. It’s about becoming more willing to be with what’s actually here.

Your Bypassing Bite:
What feeling am I trying my hardest not to feel?

Send Erin a text

✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth

Listen to all episodes + subscribe:
https://thebraveandbalancedfundraiser.buzzsprout.com

Newsletter Sign-up: The Brave & Balanced Note

Join the community:
The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group
👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/braveandbalancedfundraiser

Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright

Releasing the fear of imposing so you can fundraise with clarity and ease.

In this live coaching session, Erin sits down with Susan Fox, a practitioner and nonprofit founder who feels like she’s imposing whenever she asks for donations. Together, they unpack the money stories she inherited from family, the “I have to do it all myself” pattern, and the shame that shows up in her body every time she thinks about fundraising.

If you’ve ever felt like asking for support is a burden—or worried people will avoid you if you make the ask—this conversation will feel very familiar.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How early money messages (like “don’t ask for more”) quietly shape your fundraising style
• Why the belief “I’m imposing on people” is actually a protective strategy, not a character flaw
• How mixed energy (wanting to ask + fearing the ask) leaks into your emails, appeals, and donor conversations
• A simple reframe: from “I’m bothering them” to “I’m offering an opportunity to be part of something meaningful”
• A compassionate self-forgiveness process you can borrow to soften old blocks and create safety inside your own system

You’ll walk away with language, insight, and a next step you can use right away as you prepare your next appeal.

Send Erin a text

✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth

Listen to all episodes + subscribe:
https://thebraveandbalancedfundraiser.buzzsprout.com

Newsletter Sign-up: The Brave & Balanced Note

Join the community:
The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group
👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/braveandbalancedfundraiser

Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright