I'm Getting Uncomfortable With Being Comfortable

I have a tenuous relationship with the word uncomfortable.

I want to be comfortable all of the time, and I realize that my growth comes from being in
uncomfortable situations.

For much of my life I believed that being comfortable meant that I was making great progress in
my life.

I wanted the nice house with the nice car.

I wanted the job that didn’t cause me any stress.

The issue isn’t with wanting these things. It’s in believing that I need to be comfortable all of
the time.

As I get older, I am learning that it’s good for me to be put into uncomfortable situations. I need
to be around people who look different than me, who are in different economic situations, and
have different life experiences than me.

This is the only way that I grow. I need to try new things and experiment.

I think of the caterpillar who needs to push against the walls of the cocoon to become the
beautiful butterfly. By pushing its way out of the cocoon, the wings become strong enough to
fly. If there was no struggle there would be no flight.

Think about it.

There are situations in your life right now that are making you uncomfortable.

You may be experiencing a job change, a living situation change, or a relationship change. You
have been placed into an uncomfortable situation. It’s a situation you may not have chosen or
even wanted to be in.

I know that when I’m in situations that are uncomfortable, I immediately want to find a way to
be comfortable. I look for the situation that will help me avoid stress and pain. I believe that the
painless road is the easy road. Truth is that it may seem easy at the time, but later I find that I
needed to stretch and didn’t grow because of it.

In our world right now, we are being invited to be uncomfortable. We are asked to stay home
and avoid being close to other people. We are being invited to look at other races as being
equal and valuable. We are being asked to respect other political points of view. We are being
asked to accept another’s religion that we don’t believe in.

This is very uncomfortable. It’s easier to be around people who look like us, believe what we
believe, and who like the things we like.

That’s very comfortable. And we don’t grow.

I pray for a time when I am willing to be uncomfortable enough to sit down with the person
I don’t agree with and listen to them. When I sit down and hear them, I will learn that
I'm not that different. I will find that we have much in common.

I will also find that we don’t have things in common. Acknowledging the differences become
the opportunity to stretch and learn. This is where growth occurs. I have enlarged my
consciousness. I have connected with another person.

I pray for a time when I will be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Although if I ever get
comfortable maybe I haven’t change that much. Maybe I just need to pray to stay
uncomfortable.