Willful Discomfort
Can we all agree that life can be uncomfortable? Regardless of how much comfort we try to pursue, discomfort will find us. Don't agree? Last time I checked, none of us make it out alive. Discomfort is coming, but the who, what, when, where, why, and how are still up in the air.
Last night, I had the blessing of spending time with a group of people ranging from long-time friends, to acquaintances, to first-time encounters. The conversation went deep. I heard several profound stories that rocked me to the core.
Something interesting dawned on me by the time the night concluded. Every one of these amazing stories had one thing in common: willful discomfort. While life will inevitably become uncomfortable at times, every person in that room willfully subjected themselves to discomfort along their journey. Not only that, but this willful act of discomfort had a direct connection with the beauty that subsequently unfolded.
This is a topic I write and talk about a lot, but it never goes out of style. Here's one example from my own life. Just over six years ago, Sarah and I made the radical decision that I would leave my 15-year career, our family would take a 90% pay cut, and we'd start over with a completely different life. All the material comforts our world had to offer were staring us in the face, and we turned the other way. Culturally, what we did was stupid. Mathematically, what we did was stupid. Comfort-wise, what we did was stupid.
However, with the benefit of six years of hindsight, that willful discomfort was easily the best decision I've ever made in my life. It might have also been one of the toughest things I've ever done, but that's a story for a different day. That single act of willful discomfort transformed our family, our lives, and the impact we've been able to make. Many decades from now, when I look back on my life and the thousands of key decisions I made, I will surely pinpoint that decision and a few other ridiculous acts of willful discomfort as the turning points of my life.
Sure, discomfort will find all of us.....eventually. However, what I'm suggesting today is that we should each willfully pursue discomfort. Find it, welcome it, and embrace it. When we're willing to stare at discomfort in the face and not allow it to deter us, everything is on the table. That's living!
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