Humans don’t deal well with change, it is our nature to stick with the status quo and resist the unknown. It’s tied to our deep-seated biological drive to survive. If you’re uncomfortable with discomfort, you turn away from uncertainty and change. The last few years have been a roller coaster ride of learning to deal with new paradigms. Let’s continue to look at how we can be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
We must always be willing to challenge ourselves to grow and change. There is no standing still in this world. We are either growing or the world passing us by as we stand still.
Fear and anxiety, they’re natural. Accepting that is part of us being human. At the same time, we need to ask, are those feelings facts? Are they part of the story we’re telling ourselves about what’s going on?
Two years ago, I wrote about the fact that I thought this was the most uncertain and challenging time during my lifetime.
Two years ago, we were in the midst of a pandemic for which we didn’t have a lot of information, there was no vaccine, unemployment claims were at record highs, business owners were trying to figure out how to keep their doors open.
But we had been here before as a society. We had dealt with the Spanish flu pandemic, and we were a lot better equipped now than in 1918 to deal with it all.
We had record levels of unemployment during the Great Depression, yet we were much more prepared, from an economic standpoint, to deal with it in 2020.
But now we are dealing with possibly an overcorrection to that situation that has left us with spiraling inflation. We have been here before as well, and we have more tools at our disposal and more knowledge.
But given all that, how do we get comfortable with being uncomfortable? We accept that we’re human, we don’t run away from the feelings or discomfort of discomfort or anxiety. It’s a natural human reaction. It’s normal to feel those. We ask ourselves, Is it true? Is what you’re telling yourself a fact or is it the story you’re telling yourself about the situation, and then we reframe the discomfort to see it as a source of growth. Get curious in the face of the unknown.
We developed a vaccine for the virus that has significantly improved health outcomes for those who catch it. Employment rebounded and numbers continue to be strong. What seemed like tend times just two years ago ended up ok.
What seems like the worst possible scenario is unlikely to come true this time as well.
The greatest success stories are often told of being well-being accomplished in the face of the adversity. Muhammad Ali once said about his training regimen, I hate every minute of it, but I said to myself suffer now and live the rest of your life like a champion.
Mozart needed at least 10 years before he produced something that became popular and Edison failed 1000 times or creating a lightbulb before perhaps what was his greatest success.
They all lived in the world with the uncomfortable
It would have been easy to give into the fear, the anxiety, and the doubt that all of them no doubt fought through.
Everyone knows you can’t get in shape without some sort of training. You run, you bike, you lift weights. The same is true for mental toughness and resilience. There’s no better time than during times of hardship and uncertainty than to strengthen your mental muscles
Nobody likes paying $6 A gallon at the gas pump. Nobody likes seeing the stories of there being any sort of shortage because we’ve gotten used to being comfortable. We hate the idea of being uncomfortable in our lives in any way, shape, or form.
See this as an opportunity, as well as take comfort in the plan that you have put in place to help see you see through the good times and the bad.
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