Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 328 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Learning to be Comfortable with Discomfort #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 328 of our trek. Yesterday and today, we are hiking on a difficult trail that is precarious to navigate 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. Discomfort is a part of our lives on a daily basis. We are faced with decisions or circumstances that we would prefer not to deal with. Ignoring those times is not a real solution, so we need to acknowledge that it is part of life and make the conscious choice to being prepared. Learning how to be comfortable with the inevitable discomforts of life 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. It has been a steady week of work for us, as we are staying focused on the most crucial task while realizing that what we can’t complete today, if it is important, it will still be here tomorrow. This may bring us some discomfort, which is why we are continuing on our trail today as we explore…

Learning to be Comfortable with Discomfort #2

Yesterday we focused on how many times we try to avoid discomfort. We came to the conclusion that if you avoid it long-term, the discomfort will be even greater. You may also miss the opportunity of making an impact on the lives of others. So, today let us move on and explore mastering discomfort.

· Mastering Discomfort

The way to master discomfort is to do it comfortably. That might sound contradictory, but it’s not. If you are afraid of discomfort, and you try to beat discomfort with a really grueling activity, you will probably give up and fail and go back to your comfort zone.

Here are five ways to slowly become comfortable with discomfort.

1. Pick something that’s not hard.

Take a time for daily prayer and meditation as an example. It’s not really that hard. You will need to set the time aside where you are not interrupted. Relax and allow this to be a time of reflection. Try to be conscious of your thoughts and don’t allow them to wander. This may bring some discomfort initially, but give it time.

2. Just do a little.

You don’t have to start by doing 30 minutes of something you’re not used to doing. Just do a few minutes. Just start.

3. Push out of your comfort zone, a little.

Let’s use the example of exercising. If you are not used to walking, start with walking around one block each day for a week. The next week, walk around one block and additional 100 yards. Each week, push yourself just a little bit more than you are comfortable with. Soon you will become comfortable with the discomfort. Push yourself a little bit more each week.

4. Watch for discomfort.

Watch yourself as you get a bit uncomfortable — are you starting to complain – even if it just to yourself. Are you looking for ways to avoid it? Are you coming up with excuses? That is when you need to push yourself just a little bit more.