Who prefers discomfort to comfort?
Not me, but sometimes, it’s necessary. I favor tasty food, sweet smells, a good night’s rest (plus an afternoon nap, if possible). I enjoy warm, moderate temperatures, not too cold, not too hot. I like to look at hills and mountains but prefer to walk on level ground. I am partial to health as opposed to pain and disease.
Yet, I may need some dis-ease in order to grow as a human being. Recently, I heard someone say, “A well-lived life is often uncomfortable.”
If a) your life is perfect, and b) the lives of those around you are equally perfect, and c) if you anticipate no change in anyone’s status, then you have a pretty good case for remaining just as you are.
However, most of us experience changes and challenges in our lives that make moving out of our comfort zone occasionally appropriate.
Two of my dear friends, now retired, are doing what comes unnaturally by relocating to another state to be near their only child. During the prime of their lives, they spent massive amounts of time on the road traveling to care for two sets of parents, each several hours away in opposite directions. The parents were unwilling to make any changes in their own lives. They hunkered down at home and stayed there — hell or high water. My friends decided they didn’t want to inconvenience their daughter in that same way.
Changes in our circumstances happen whether we’re prepared for them or not. Accidents happen. Jobs change unexpectedly. We get older. What worked when we were young, or on our last job, does not work ten weeks or twenty years later. Re-tooling is required. Learning new ideas and modifying old habits require that we move out of old comfort zones.
Climate, foods, textures, accents, music, beverages, favorite family members and friends are all comfort zones. People who willingly move outside their security spaces for the purpose of personal growth demonstrate courage that is admirable. People who venture outside their comfort zones for the benefit of helping others are heroes.