Seek discomfort

Last summer I had a visitor. Someone I would not generally hangout with and someone who had not been entirely present in my life until that point in time. Part of it was spontaneity and another part was indulgence. Or so I thought.

To be completely honest, I had not put much thought into it. I kind of went with the flow and did not really take into account what this might mean... if anything. I just thought that it might be nice to see a friendly face in the city given that I did not have many friends yet.

And so said visitor came over to my new apartment in my new city and instantly I felt as if even though we are not one and the same, our chemistry was good. We shared a lot of knowledge throughout the weekend and one thing in particular stood out to me. One of the pieces of knowledge shared with me was about "the yes theory" and the belief in seeking discomfort. As it was explained, I got to understand that while spontaneity plays a huge part in our decisions, it is overcoming the fear of the unknown that is actually leading us towards making certain decisions.

For example, even though me and said visitor had no particular history at all, he drove five hours to me just to hangout for a few days. Realistically speaking, he could have done anything else, but he chose the one thing that was making him uncomfortable and he went through with it. In the end, it turned out to be a decision that was for the best. A new friendship was created, alongside a stream of memories.

Seeking discomfort is literally just the overcoming of fears. Previous judgements of a particular experience being diminished.

Seek discomfort. Conquer your fears. Say yes.