Doing The Uncomfortable

This is either week seven or eight after being discharged from the hospital. The recovery process is slow, too slow for my liking. I believe this is week eight of being home. During this time I’ve hired a full time helper. Today I have limited use of my right hand and I’m still limited in a number of other areas. These few months are teaching me the same lesson again. Doing the uncomfortable yields exceptional results.

We have evolved to avoid the perils of day to day life. We typically seek comfort and safety. It’s certain that’s what I do, looking for the easier softer way. Being uncomfortable isn’t something I search for. I having been living uncomfortable for over five years. Of course there are moments of relief, but to be away from the country I was born and raised, a culture I grew uo in, and my native speaking tongue, it’s all uncomfortable.

Some of the things I do offer comfort. Writing this list is one of those things. It offers somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes of escape. A means to commune with my Creator, reflect on where I am and where I’m heading. I get to sit at my keyboard, listen to some “feel good” music and write. I consider this time sacred. I do my best to protect this time and yesterday I failed. My helper arrived early. Her presence disturbed my routine, but I wrote anyway.

I also had to have a conversation with her family members. I sought out the conversation, but she was hesitant. I still require assistance and they have been interfering with her ability to assist for weeks now. It has never been acceptable, but I tolerated it, partly out of guilt and in part as partial payment for them helping save my life. Another part of this culture is they don’t confront people. Lying, cheating and the like are tolerated and rarely discussed. If they are discussed the person doing wrong will apologize and say something along the lines of “I didn’t know.” It’s just different from how I learned to deal with things.

Your journey may have similar episodes. You may leave a job, a career, a country or two, but you are everywhere you go. It’s been my experience that I will either learn the lesson or repeat it. If I don’t do what’s uncomfortable the instances or similar ones will continue to present themselves. It’s happened repeatedly, from relationships to quitting one job before I have another one.

The bottom line for me is life can and will be challenging. Making the easier softer choice is probably not the route for me to travel. When I run towards comfort, I’m turning my back on growth and possibly His will. I don’t actively seek out discomfort, but when I am faced with it, I will walk towards it instead of running away from it.

Today, Thursday, April 11, 2024, I am grateful that:

Examples are coming to mind that will help others. My life has been wrought with challenges. If sharing my conquests and challenges can help other people, I will do so.

I’ll be able to get the audio track for one of my courses finished today. Syncing the audio track to the presentation slides is a bit challenging since it’s not what I do for a living, but I keep reminding myself that it may benefit others. So I’ll d

This is the first part of the entry.