This quote landed in my inbox this morning:
“DISCOMFORT IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR GROWTH.”

I think that is such a subjective thought. I don’t necessarily disagree with it. Personally, I know that many of my deepest moments of personal growth were fueled by the fact that I was uncomfortable where I was in life.

But, “DISCOMFORT” is a lot different than “PAIN”. And some of us have a much higher threshold for discomfort and/or pain. I truly believe that discomfort may be too quiet, too polite, for many of us to recognize it as a cry for changing, for digging deeper, for championing growth. Don’t get me wrong – I think it can happen. However, I think that in the situations that count the most, that birth our greatest growth spurts, it takes PAIN. Huge, spirit-wrenching doses of pain that wash over us in waves that we think are never going to stop.

Discomfort reminds me of those really cute shoes that pinch “just a little” when you wear them but you buy them anyway. Your “sitting down” shoes. You know the ones – you walk around the house in them with socks on, hoping to stretch them just a little bit. You put a band-aid on your toe right were they tend to rub. They’re a little uncomfortable but for the sake of looking good, you wear them anyway. You tell yourself to “WALK IT OUT!” But the MINUTE you get to the house or in the car knowing your only stop IS the house? BABY, them thangs get kicked off IM-ME-DI-ATE-LY!!

I’ve been involved in personal situations that were just like those cute shoes – pinching my spirit, rubbing up against my common sense but I wouldn’t let those situations go because they “looked” good. I thought I could stretch them, break them in, wear them down…or simply ignore the discomfort.

Discomfort is a whisper.
Pain? Pain is a soul-shattering, spine-tingling shout.

Discomfort is a pebble tossed gently against the window of your heart, mind, soul.
Pain? Pain is a brick tossed full-force, daring you to ignore it.

I had to move through a few cycles of situations that caused me discomfort. Had to let them escalate until they became points of pain. Until just the THOUGHT of them became triggers, causing all kinds of flashbacks. Until they tested the limits of my pain threshold before I realized just how foolish I was being. And I thank God that I learned that “Comfort trumps cute every day” before I did any real damage to my feet, my soul or my heart.