UNCOMFORTABLE… yet worth it!
I just saw a T-Shirt that said;
“SEEK DISCOMFORT”.
In our lifetime, and generations prior, we have
been sold a bill of goods that tells us we ought to
seek comfort, pursue pleasures, and embrace familiarity.
We’ve been conditioned to think that the “Good things in Life”
are to be found within the familiar (Go with what you know!),
what’s comfortable (Easy does it!), and pleasurable
(Do what makes you feel happy!).
How sad. Truly.
Many will never know that the greatest things
to be discovered in Life and within our lives
are to be found along a journey of DIScomfort.
We sell ourselves short daily seeking only
what is easily gained, and never develop
our true potential when we avoid challenges,
risks, confrontation, and struggle.
We turn our sights from what we want
to what we think we can easily achieve;
often believing we will receive even less.
However it is being presented to you -
no matter how appealing or provocative;
catering to your comfort zone, avoiding struggle,
and doing only what feels good in Life is
a shortsighted sell and a quick “fix” at best.
It reminds me of a story I heard when I was younger.
As you know, before a butterfly is a butterfly – it’s a caterpillar.
The caterpillar life is cool – it’s normal, it’s expected.
Other caterpillars to hang out with… Worms, too.
All just crawling around and eating. Life is good.
At some point, the caterpillar is compelled to
make a cocoon around itself – and it does.
Inside the cocoon, it begins to change and transform.
The outside influences have been eliminated;
there are no worms telling it how great it is to be
crawling around the same old ground day after day.
Within this place, the caterpillar slowly takes on
what it was meant to be; not without struggle,
resistance, or challenge – but as a result of it.
One day, a well-meaning person comes by and
sees that there appears to be struggle going on
inside the cocoon – that it looks like something is
trying to get out but just can’t quite make it.
Being the compassionate sort, they cut open
the cocoon to release its occupant so that it
can be free of the work it had been pursuing
necessary to finish the job of their transformation.
(PLEASE read that again
and again
and again)
The caterpillar, in some stage of metamorphosis
between what it was and what it was to become,
falls to the ground and soon dies -
unable to survive being trapped between the two.
Now, this is totally my synopsis of the story, of course.
But we have a convincing number of clones & drones
in society running around with scissors – telling everyone
they need to be cut free of adversity and struggle in Life.
They say we should never have to struggle, endure
suffering, or work hard; that we ought to be rescued
from the trials and hardships we experience.
Have you ever stopped to think that it might be
because worms are easier to control than a butterfly?
Just a thought…
Look, Life is going to be filled with difficulties,
and the Beauty of your Life will be created
not by how many you escape from
but how many you transform within.
Read THAT again! Here you go:
The Beauty of your Life will be created not
by how many challenges you escape from
but how many you transform within.
If you want to hang out with the worms,
don’t do anything that might create struggle,
cause pain, resistance, or challenge in your life.
Don’t do anything new, unknown, and different.
You’ll be fine. The worms will enjoy your company!
If you’re content to eat dirt and crawl the ground -
no matter where or on what level you are; so be it.
Just please stop trying to convince other caterpillars to
keep you company and that the life of a “worm” isn’t so bad.
Stop telling us we shouldn’t want to fly and
develop our God given abilities to flourish.
Don’t tell us we’re wrong to be dissatisfied living as worms
or that we should be content to grovel on the ground.
Simply because we start out in life on the ground
does not mean that we weren’t meant to soar!
Listen, the greatest breakthroughs you will ever have
will not be through the realization of what you know;
you already know that, and it has gotten you where you are.
You will need to move beyond what you have been taught
to be afraid of and be willing to confront the unknown
not with fear but with the intention of finding out
what IS as opposed to what has been projected.
Everything we know now was once unknown. Think about it!
The only difference is that, in the early & developing stages
of our life, these unknowns were made known to us by people
and sources we knew and trusted (or were told we could trust);
parents, teachers, instructors, media (oh boy), and the like.
So now that we’re on our own and the unknown presents
itself to us – if it doesn’t look like what we already know, we
have a tendency to be afraid and refrain from moving toward it.
If we can’t make it into something we ARE familiar with,
we find ways to push it away and justify why it doesn’t need
to be a part of our life, and move backwards to
embrace a more familiar aspect of our life.
It’s a form of Self-preservation, really.
I think I’m starting to go into a related yet far
larger topic now, and that’s not my intent.
If you want to pursue this topic,
grab a copy of “Barriers to the Brain“.
Good stuff.
So I’ll end this how I started it:
I just saw a T-Shirt that said;
“SEEK DISCOMFORT”
What are you seeking in Life??