Embracing discomfort

I have amazingly mature kids sometimes.  The other day I was sitting at the table after dinner talking with my 19 year old daughter and 17 year old son- both of whom are planning on volunteering to be missionaries for our church within the next year.  They will “sign up,” and then wait to be told where they are assigned to serve for 18 or 24 months.  They will leave family and friends (communication is only allowed through email once a week) to live among strangers, possibly in a foreign country. They may be asked to learn a new language, eat strange new things, or embrace a completely new culture.  They will be paired up with “companions,” or partners in missionary work, some of whom will undoubtedly be hard to get along with.  (*Updated to add that Savannah is now serving in Chicago!)

I asked them both what they were most nervous about, and their answers were so mature and impressive to me. My daughter said she was nervous about the constant changes.  Just as she starts to get comfortable in one area, or with one companion, she will likely be transferred to another.  She anticipates being out of her comfort zone almost the whole time.

My son said that he wants to use his time as a missionary to let go of any parts of himself that are not part of his core self. (These are not necessarily the words he used, but his meaning.) He wants to strip away any habits or thought patterns that he has adopted because of his peers or his surroundings.  And he anticipates that will feel uncomfortable.

I was amazed with the depth of both of their answers.  And I am in awe of how willing they both are to embrace discomfort so that they can grow. They know that evolving and improving themselves will be uncomfortable, but it is worth it to them!

So many of us think, as soon as we feel a little discomfort, that something has gone terribly wrong! It feels safer to stay where we are, to keep doing the things we’ve always done, and to keep thinking the thoughts we’ve always thought. We don’t like to feel uncomfortable, so we hide from growth and change.  But what we hoped would be safety or ease often turns to stagnation, and feeling stuck or stagnant is uncomfortable too.

Apparently when we signed up for this thing called life, we signed up to be uncomfortable sometimes.  We might as well embrace it and choose the kind of discomfort that will cause us to stretch and grow and become more.

Christi