It was probably four or so years ago. I was in a barre class and my legs were shaking to the point of me wondering if my legs might fall off. I vividly remember the instructor saying “embrace the burn!!” and I thought to myself This woman is batshit crazy – why the f*ck would I ever want to embrace the burn? But I did. And I survived. And I felt like a rockstar walking out of that class. Well, actually more like a rockstar with jello for legs, but a rockstar nonetheless.
As I’ve gotten older, and especially the last year or so I’ve been learning to embrace the discomfort. Because life isn’t always going to be comfortable. In fact, oftentimes situations you find yourself in can be really uncomfortable, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally.
A “mantra” I’ve been reminding myself of lately is “get comfortable being uncomfortable” because that’s where the growth happens…that’s where the evolution happens…that’s when life happens. And no I didn’t just come up with all of this on my own. My therapist, who I have spoken about several times on the blog, podcast, and IG, helped me with this. She is magic.
As I write this article, I’m on an airplane 37,007 feet in the sky (yes, I know it down to the number because I track my flights like a crazy person!), and I’m not comfortable. In fact, I’m the furthest thing from comfortable. Well, ok let me back up…I’m comfortable in that I’m sitting in a very comfortable seat with nowhere to be but in said comfy seat, but I’m uncomfortable in every other sense of the word.
You know I hate to fly (if you don’t – check out my articles on the matter, my podcast episode where I discuss it, or my IG highlights), and I mean hate. I know if you don’t have this fear it’s hard for you to understand, so I invite you to think of whatever you do fear (and if you fear nothing… you should be cloned and I bow down to you), and imagine that.
I am so totally uncomfortable right now – heart beating fast, short breaths, a tad shaky, slightly nauseous, a bad stomach, and so on. Yep, that’s what flying does to me. And now as I type this, the ride is starting to get a bit turbulent so I chugged a glass of wine.
Do I wish I were anyplace other than on this plane right now? Yep. Did I get off the plane before take off the other day due to anxiety? You betcha. Did I not even get on the plane a few days before that? Correct.
Anxiety blows. It does. This fear sucks. I wouldn’t wish it upon any of you. And having this fear and the anxiety that I have alongside the fear isn’t fun. At all.
But I’m embracing it the best I can. I’m getting as comfortable as I can being uncomfortable.
And not just with flying.
But with life in general.
The past year has been a year of change, growth, learning, loving, laughing, crying, and every single thing in between. There have been numerous times I’ve felt completely utterly unfathomably uncomfortable. But I survived. And you will, too. The discomfort can be crippling – it can make you want to cry, scream, and yell “fuck!” all at the same time.
So you breathe. Deeply. You breathe through it because there’s nothing else you can do.
And then there’s a light that peeks through. And you realize that the discomfort is only temporary. Because every emotion and feeling is temporary (also learned that line in therapy..hi Stefanie!). And you survive. You survive the discomfort and not only do you survive, but you come out stronger on the other end.
And so it goes.
Will the discomfort ever get easier? Maybe not. But every time I’m in an uncomfortable situation (flying, hard conversations, etc) I just remember that I can do this. I got this. I’m more than capable of handling it. It’s a mind game. It really is.
So I’m going to continue sitting on this plane, now at 36,994 feet, drinking my third glass of wine, and breathing. According to my tracking of the flight via turbulenceforecast.com (yep – I stalk that site like crazy every time I fly), it could get fairly bumpy in about 45 minutes, and if it does, I know I’ll hate it. But I’ll continue to breathe, and I’ll embrace that discomfort as much as I possibly can (and I’ll drink a fourth glass of wine, if we’re being honest).
Next time you’re uncomfortable, just know you’re going to be ok. I promise. You’ll get through whatever it is you’re going through.
You got this.
“And so do I,” she (she being me) says as she clutches the side of her airplane seat, chugging wine as if it’s going out of style.