My thought for today is on discomfort. Often we find ourselves at cross roads in our lives. One path usually will be to carry on as we have been, the road is familiar and we can see where it’ll take us. The other path holds more uncertainty for us, will it be as good? Whatever the case may be the unknown path will most certainly bring us discomfort.
Discomfort simply is, wherever there is uncertainty, wherever there is a stretching of ourselves it will bring us discomfort. Yet, we often let the fear of discomfort, the fear of the unknown stop us from making decisions and taking paths that at least could be good for us or even we know for certain would be good for us. My message today is not some magic solution to avoiding the feeling of discomfort while still taking those unknown paths but rather some encouragement and advice for breaking past those self-imposed limits.
First, do it for someone else. Hopefully you’ve had the experience of receiving praise from your parents or a loved one. That feeling of satisfaction when you did something hard and made your parents proud can be a good motivator for a child and it can still help motivate today. I remember my first year in band I was asked to perform in a trio in front of an auditorium full of people. Being extremely shy at the time, I was terrified at the thought but I eventually warmed up to the idea because I thought of the surprise from my parents who never expected it from me. Share your opportunities with loved ones, you may be surprised at the motivation it gives you to face your discomfort.
Second, focus on what you may gain rather than what you may lose. One thing is just about certain, without change, there is no growth. I imagine most of us want to grow and reach our potential so focus on that. If things go well you will be grateful you took that leap of faith, if they don’t, you still walk away with greater experience and knowledge. You can say, “that wasn’t the right direction for me”, which will always be better than saying “I wonder if”.
Lastly, remember that discomfort is a normal and healthy part of life. Simple but it’s surprising how comforting it can be to simply acknowledge that discomfort is normal. You’re not alone. Discomfort has been around since the Fall. Adam and Eve could have stayed in that Garden forever and they would not have progressed or reached their potential. It was by taking a bite of knowledge of good and evil that they were then able to discern what was good and what was not good for them. Despite the discomfort it brought, that fruit was good for them.
I offer my personal encouragement, take a leap of faith. Do that thing you’ve wanted to but have been afraid to. Discomfort can become a sign to us that we should do something. Yes it’ll be difficult, new is always difficult but it’ll be okay, you can do difficult things.
The Author Mommy 