Leaning Into Discomfort
We live in a very odd time- one when you can work from your couch and have food delivered to your front door without needing to step outside all day.
We’ve been conditioned to seek comfort in everything we do- from padded office chairs and climate controlled houses, to luxury cars, and escalators to avoid walking up stairs. Why workout when you can take the weight loss pill? The sad truth is that the modern human is overfed, climate-controlled, and under-challenged. This constant need for comfort has robbed us of a primal need- discomfort.
Discomfort is hugely important and it something we need to lean into more than ever. It creates resiliency and a greater appreciation for almost everything we have in life.
Have you ever gone 18 or 24 hours without eating? I can tell you that the first bite of steak afterwards is enjoyed on a completely different level. If you submerge yourself in a cold lake or ocean for five minutes, it makes any other stress you experience throughout the day almost laughable.
The resilience is not just subjective- on a cellular level, the term for this is hormesis. It’s a process by which a low dose of damage from the environment induces an adaptive beneficial effect on the cell or organism.
Discomfort is another area where we can take a page out of our primal ancestors’ book. For the vast majority of human history, discomfort was a part of their daily life:
It was normal to walk for miles in the heat (sweaty and thirsty) to gather berries.
It was routine to skip a meal because there wasn’t enough meat to go around. Hunger was a constant companion and motivator to hunt efficiently.
Dragging a heavy animal back to your village leaving your muscles sore was just a part of living.
So what’s the significance of that?
Well, our primal ancestors were incredibly lean and free of chronic disease, they slept well, and weren’t chronically stressed. Their habits are a good indicator that our bodies are designed for discomfort. We need to sweat, elevate our heart rate, use our muscles, and feel hunger. In the moment it might suck, but once you get past it, you realize it feels right.
Compare those trials with the modern white-collared worker- he/she can go days without sweating or physically struggling at all; overhead fluorescent light has become their form of sunlight as they rarely step outside. Walk around barefoot in the dirt and grass, are you crazy?
The hard truth is that there’s a real cost associated with constant comfort. Modern humans as a whole are unhealthier and unhappier than ever before. Obesity and chronic disease are rampant. The need for anti-depressants and other pharmaceuticals is sky-high. I’m not saying that comfort and convenience are solely responsible, but it begs the question as to whether this constant need for comfort is affecting our ability to lead healthy, happy lives. I believe so.
The central theme here is that in a world of comfort, it’s important to regularly seek discomfort. Putting yourself in tough situations, leads to a healthier body and mind.
So my challenge to you this week is to do something uncomfortable. Go for a long hike with a heavy backpack, skip a meal, submerge yourself in cold water, sit in a sauna, or simply go for an after-dinner walk instead of watching TV. Let me know how it goes in the comments!
P.S. Michael Easter wrote a great book on this called The Comfort Crisis. Michael puts himself through some very difficult endeavors like a 33-day backcountry hunting expedition in Alaska to share how these challenges positively impacted his life. There’s also a lot of research cited to back it up. Worth a read!