Dear friend,
Comfort will kill you. There, I said it. The chase for comfort is the dream of modernity that turns a life into a wasteland of ambition, possibility, and potential. And yet so many of us are committed to being comfortable, looking good, and feeling good, no matter what. That three-headed dog, comfort, looking good, feeling good, guards the prison we are trapped in.
The cost is this: too often you say yes or no to opportunities with the god of comfort as your only filter. You will not take on the project, meet the person, or go to the place that might make you uncomfortable, where you risk looking bad or feeling inadequate. Heaven forbid we should be uncomfortable. But when you become the very picture of comfort, you may notice your life turning lonely and boring. The full joy of life is only found in a bare-knuckle confrontation with it. Sometimes avoiding risk is the riskiest thing you can do.
So break the habit of seeking comfort at all costs. Be willing to be uncomfortable. Let me give you a personal example. At twenty, back in 1994, I had a sense that computers were going to matter for our future, and I chased that instinct. I left the comfort of my home and my mother’s cooking, moved to the US, and set off on an adventure to learn about computers. It was deeply uncomfortable. And doing the uncomfortable thing was the best decision I ever made. It is the only way you go beyond, in your life’s work, and do something that truly matters.
So what uncomfortable thing are you willing to do? What are you willing to stand for, something that might be hard, even frightening, but could bring tremendous reward? I would like to hear from you.
With care,Saqib