Finding Uncomfortable

I thrive on predictability and order.  I find calm in a house that is clutter free and clean.  My car has never been a storage place of wrappers and coffee cups.  And if you have ever been in the studio, there is a place for EVERYTHING.  The boxes, the straps, the dumbbells and of course the kettlebells, all have a home.  I have been known to rearrange these things mid class when they are out of place.  There is an order to my every day life that makes me unique and also very happy.  I almost never lose stuff and I purge at least twice a year.  I find it very hard to veer away from this normalcy.  But it is important to challenge myself to get uncomfortable.  Maybe let the house get dirty for a week.  Or let the clean laundry pile up.  Even though I love staying in the comfort zone it is very important to check in with myself and make sure that this need for consistency isn’t holding me back from what may lie ahead.

I make the excuse that there is little in my life that I can control, so organization is something I can.  My days are different, my weeks are different, there is little predictability in my work.  I flow from other peoples schedules and personalities, finding ways to create a space that individualizes each person and works around our chaotic lives.  There is always a balance that never seems quite balanced.  But what if I didn’t show up for work one day?  What if all the kettlebells were in the wrong place for a week…no wait, a day?  The ability to adapt and conform to the changing environment is something I struggle with.  When my plans go awry, it causes stress.  When I forget an appointment, I get frustrated with myself.  These are things that mostly affect me, but they also have an affect on the people around me.

There is so much to be found when we go outside of these comforts.  The older I get the more important this becomes.  It is more than alright, it is great, to be uncomfortable.  It is an amazing feeling to not know.  I love doing something new and unfamiliar.  I love not knowing who I am going to meet or what my expectations are going to be.  Showing up for a class or meeting with people I’ve never met at a place I’ve never been, is so uncomfortable and so exciting.  The part of me that needs to succeed doesn’t know what to do.  The nervousness is fun.  Every time I get these opportunities I take them.  I learn so much about myself and it’s an opportunity to meet people and listen to their stories.  But I will say, I always have a bail out plan.

Part of my goals for each year is to find ways to take myself out of my comfort.  Sometimes this is done in taking a class I’m not going to be good at.  Other times it’s volunteering with something that I know nothing about.  When I look at my day to day, it is amazing how much I do that complements me.  I fill my time with things I am good at and things that bring me peace and comfort.  I am searching for new hobbies and ways to stretch my abilities to learn.  Being humble is very uncomfortable but also very fulfilling.  I learn about subjects I know nothing about.  I learn about communities that I never knew existed.  In the process I learn a lot about myself and my need to keep learning.

The same is true for training.  Most of us want comfort and predictability.  We want to show up and know the space, the people.  We want to know that the class will be over in an hour and we will know most of the exercises and be good at a few of them.  In other words, we want a level of success at the end of our training.  But there is a lot to be discovered on the other end of that.

Training has so much to offer when we allow ourselves to get outside of the places we feel complemented.  The spaces we find when we are unsure of ourselves.  Those spaces bring our mind and our bodies together.  There is almost a meditative state when we have to focus all our attention on one unfamiliar thing.  Also we learn about places we can take our athleticism that we probably never thought possible.  My athletes regularly try challenging and unfamiliar exercises, most of the time I don’t give them a choice.  I watch them struggle and focus.  I watch them unsure and sometimes glare at me.  But usually they focus and find success in something they never even knew was possible.  What they don’t know, was the end result was the easiest part.  Showing up and trusting themselves was where all the work came from.

Say yes!!!  Force yourself to be uncomfortable and experience things that might scare you.  See what is beyond that thread of convenience.  Don’t compare yourself to the people around you or a younger version of yourself.  Don’t predict where you will be in the future or rely on others to go with you.  Grow from here and see how far you can go when you can give yourself the gift of being uncomfortable.