Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Sometimes I intentionally sit in a cold office.

I realize how ridiculous that sounds. 😂

There's a heater under my desk. I could turn it on. And sometimes I do.

But other times I don't.

Why?

Because I'm working on being more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

It's one of the things I intentionally keep in front of myself, and the more I think about it, the more places I see it show up.

I experience it when I run.

There comes a point when my body starts asking a pretty reasonable question:

Why exactly are we still doing this?

Nothing is wrong. I'm just uncomfortable.

And I have a choice.

I can make the discomfort go away, or I can stay in it a little longer.

I've started wondering if we've become so good at making ourselves comfortable that we've forgotten there might actually be value in occasionally not being comfortable.

We adjust the temperature.

Avoid the awkward conversation.

Put off the difficult decision.

Defend ourselves when criticism stings.

Say yes because saying no would disappoint someone.

Stick with what we know because being a beginner feels terrible.

None of those things necessarily makes us weak.

But I do wonder what happens when eliminating discomfort becomes our default response to experiencing it.

Because life eventually gives us discomfort we can't eliminate.

And when that happens, I want some evidence that says:

I've been uncomfortable before. I can handle this.

Maybe that's one of the ways confidence is actually built.

Not simply by succeeding.

But by repeatedly discovering that discomfort doesn't have to control what I do next.

Now, I don't believe discomfort is automatically good.

Pain can be information. Some situations are unhealthy. Some circumstances absolutely should change. Wisdom isn't found in suffering unnecessarily just so we can brag about being tough.

That's not what I'm talking about.

The point is discernment rather than avoidance.

Can I recognize the difference between discomfort that's telling me something needs to change and discomfort that's simply asking me to do something difficult?

Because I'm talking about the manageable discomfort we sometimes run from simply because we can.

The difficult conversation that still needs to happen.

The silence after someone tells us something we don't want to hear.

The uncertainty we can't immediately resolve.

The awkwardness of setting a boundary.

The frustration of learning something we're not good at yet.

The next half mile when quitting would feel a whole lot better.

I'm beginning to wonder whether a life designed around comfort eventually makes discomfort feel like crisis.

I don't want that.

I want to build enough capacity for discomfort that when something difficult really matters, my need to feel comfortable doesn't get to make the decision for me.

So sometimes I run another half mile.

Sometimes I sit in the conversation a little longer.

Sometimes I let someone be disappointed.

And apparently, sometimes I sit in a cold office with a perfectly good heater right under my desk. 😂

Not because discomfort makes me stronger simply by experiencing it.

But because learning that I can be uncomfortable and still move forward does.

— Coach Dave

Your NoBS Reflection

NOTICE: What discomforts am I regularly trying to eliminate?

OWN: Are these discomforts warning me, or am I simply trying to avoid them?
Is this discomfort telling me something? Or do I just want it gone because...well, being uncomfortable is uncomfortable? 

BUILD: Where could I practice staying uncomfortable a little longer?

SUSTAIN: What would change if discomfort didn't get to make my decisions?