Discomfort

I’ve been thinking about something this week, Discomfort. Most of us try to avoid it at all costs don’t we? But we need it. When do we grow? When we’re comfortable? No, never. Unless we start experiencing some discomfort somewhere we have no reason to even think about doing something different. Growth comes from working through things, uncomfortable things, hard things. We deal with discomfort in every area of our lives; physical, relational, emotional, spiritual, etc…

The physical has probably given me the most concrete picture of how discomfort works in my own life. It’s actually great because it’s helped me considerably when thinking about these other areas, and let’s be real, the physical is probably the easiest to deal with.

When I first started working out I didn’t want to do it. It was so hard I dreaded it. Sometimes I wondered if I could get through it or if it would EVER pay off. Training is hard but I’ve learned to manage it better over time. I’ve been working out long enough to see the results, long enough to know myself and to be patient in the waiting. Will I get there effortlessly? No. I’m still a work in progress but I will get there. I’ll finish or I’ll get as far as I can and make some progress. It’ll be one more workout (one more hard thing) in my log book with a check mark by it. The results, “the growth” comes but it’s hard to see at first. The discomfort doesn’t seem worth the effort when we don’t see the results right away or we’re not sure when or if they’re going to come. When I was trying to lose weight and get healthy I had SO much to lose. For a long time I thought I would never see real progress. The results came slowly over time just grinding away at what I knew to do; workout, eat healthy, get rest, repeat. I just kept doing these things over and over till somewhere I actually started to see some changes. That gave me the energy and desire to keep going. Then the crazy thing happened when I started to see all the work differently. I started to enjoy the process. I look forward to going to the gym every day. All the work is still hard but I know I can do it or at least most of it. The other stuff I’ve figured out how to break down so it’s more manageable. That’s also something that takes time, figuring out how to work your way through it. This is how it is in other areas as well. Over time we learn new strategies and techniques to get through. We grow.

Life ebbs and flows and sometimes hurts. Sometimes we have to work through some uncomfortable issues in life, maybe things we’d rather avoid. But growth in life is worth it. The thing is, we’ll never see the end of discomfort (at least while we’re on this pretty blue planet). If we can learn to see the discomfort as training and learning, maybe we can change our view of it. Maybe it can become something we embrace head on, anticipating the positive results that can come.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers & sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

James 1:2-5