Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 327 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Learning to be Comfortable with Discomfort #1
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 327 of our trek. Yesterday on our trek, we covered the 10 laws of a living legacy. Today and tomorrow we will hike on a difficult trail that is precarious as we learn how to be comfortable with discomfort.
Thank you so much for coming along with me daily as we add to our wisdom. All of us will experience times of discomfort in our lives which actually will help us to gain wisdom, insight, and understanding in our lives. Every day presents us a new opportunity to learn, to laugh, to love, and to make an impact in the lives of others that will last for eternity. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Paula was able to get outside today and thin out some of the daffodil bulbs that have really multiplied over the past few years. There is still a lot more to thin, so she will probably invest several days on it. We plan on spreading the bulbs to new areas, and also passing them out at the Chamberlain reunion in July. Many of the daffodils were originally planted by my Granny and possibly extend back as far as my great-grandmother who we called GG.
Thinking about being outside, we should get focused on our trek for today as we explore…
Learning to be Comfortable with Discomfort #1
If you learn this skill, you can master pretty much anything. You can beat procrastination, start exercising, make your diet healthier, learn a new language, make it through challenges and physically grueling events, explore new things, speak on a stage, and let go of all that holds you back.
Unfortunately, most people avoid discomfort. I mean, they really avoid it — at the first sign of discomfort, they’ll run as fast as possible in the other direction. This is perhaps the biggest limiting factor for most people, and it’s why you can’t change your habits.
Think about this…Many people don’t eat vegetables or wholesome foods because they have convinced themselves they don’t like the taste. We’re not talking about soul-wrenching pain here. No one is torturing you. It’s just a taste that’s just not something you’re used to. So instead you eat what you already like, which is sweets and fried stuff and processed meats, cheeses, salty things, and lots of boxed foods that are highly processed with little or no nutritional content. The simple act of learning to get used to something that tastes different is not really that hard in the grand scheme of life. Yet, by not being a bit uncomfortable, it makes people unhealthy and usually overweight.
Somehow in our minds we convince ourselves that we are avoiding discomfort when all the while we are creating a lifestyle of long-term discomfort that can have major significance on our quality of life and ability to live a vibrant legacy each day.
The beautiful thing is I learned through the years that a little discomfort isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it can be something you enjoy with a little training and consistent persistence. When you learn this, you will gain the skills needed to change any area of your life that needs to be changed. Master your fear of discomfort, and you can master your world to live the legacy life that you desire.
· Avoidance of Discomfort
When people are stressed, they often turn to habits that are detrimental to them such as cigarettes, food, shopping, alcohol, drugs…anything to get rid of the discomfort of the thing that’s stressing them out. If you take a deeper look at the stress, it’s is usually an unfounded fear that’s causing it. Many times we end up worrying about those things we have no real control over. It may boil down to the fact that you have the fear that you’re not good enough in some facet of your life. If you examine the root cause, then you can choose to become comfortable with going through beneficial discomfort.
As an example, let’s say you start to exercise after being sedentary for a lengthy period of time. At first, you will be very uncomfortable. You will never feel like starting. It’s hard! It can make you sore. It’s not as easy as not exercising. It’s not something you’re used to doing, and you fear doing it wrong or looking stupid.
If you are not convinced in your mind of the value of being uncomfortable then after a while, you quit. It is really not horrible to be uncomfortable. It is a mindset shift that must be made. We’re not talking about incredible pain or losing life or limb, but just discomfort.
Even though I have been exercising every day for years, there are mornings I really do not want to. I have to remind myself that the temporary discomfort for that day is worth the healthy body, mind, and soul that is achieved, which brings me comfort.
Let’s look at another area of life…and that is comfort foods. By the very name, we are deceived into thinking that it will bring us comfort. When you first try to stay on a healthier regimen of eating, you may not like it. Eating green veggies, nuts, flax seeds, fruits, or black beans isn’t initially as thrilling as eating fried, fatty, salty, or sweet foods. It’s a form of discomfort to change your taste buds, but the truth is, it can easily happen if you just convince yourself that you are willing to become comfortable with a little discomfort.
Discomfort isn’t bad. It’s just not what we’re used to, so we avoid it. Avoidance comes at a real cost. The cost of not being able to change things, not being healthy, not being open to adventure and the chaos of real life. In both diet and exercise, you need to ask yourself at the beginning of each day, “How do I want to feel today?” This will put you on the right trail to make wise and prudent choices.
We just got started on the trail of discomfort today, and we will have more to cover tomorrow. As we set up camp for today, let us look to Moses as our example of someone who chose to be comfortable with discomfort which we read about in HebrewS 11:24-26, “It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.”
Today we looked at some common ways we avoid discomfort. Tomorrow we will move on up the trail and learn how to master discomfort with some practical steps to help us along our way. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!