Discomfort

Joe Sammartino
2 min readOct 10, 2021

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There are two kinds of discomfort. The kind we seek and the kind that find its way to us. Though both types of discomfort are the same sensation. Discomfort is a good thing. Being uncomfortable is a good thing. Comfort is an enemy of this life. Now, this does not mean that you have to sleep on a bed of nails. Being comfortable breeds laziness. Most notably we can see an example of this in relationships. Someone gets comfortable gets lazy does not perform their usual or expected functions and the relationship is over. Another example is one of exercise. We can build ourselves up to a point where we can endure a certain threshold of pain or discomfort. Which comes with a level of endurance or muscle. Though the discomfort level wanes when we stop pushing our limits thus only “maintains”. I quote maintain because there is no stagnation in this life. Time does not stop. You are either growing or dying. There is no staying the same. So in the example of exercise exercising to a limit that is not breaking that limit is not exactly maintaining.

In life there are moments when discomfort is brought on to us through bad decision making or death of family members. Are just vague examples. Then there is comfort that we bring unto ourselves like exercising. Both give the individual an opportunity to react to either. This is what differentiates the winners from the losers. Take that statement as you will. We can allow discomfort to make or break us. There is no avoiding discomfort in life. There is even discomfort within leisure. Too much leisure breeds the creation of lesser discomforts. These lesser discomforts are low vibration low spiritually engagements with the world. Meaning that they are induced by the individual with little to no return on investment for “struggling” through this particular discomfort. In some occasion these can be eye opening for an individual. For example living at home, paying essentially no bills or at least minimally and having no future with no ambition. This life style does not elevate an individual and certainly not spiritually.

But, you can still choose how to react to a discomfort that has little meaning in the suffering. Just as much as you can find significant meaning in the discomforts that bare more sacrificial weight to them. These discomforts come from the same place. They are sensations that we feel. The reactions are what differ between them. Choosing to learn and endure the discomforts is when growth takes place. Growth grows through the pain of suffering. We remember harsh feelings. Remembering is our painful reminder that we do not want to feel in undesirable ways. Harsh negative feelings stick around and shine bright a whole lot longer than peaceful memories too. Enduring discomfort is strength. We grow accustom to the stress. But only with adequate rest in between each bout of discomfort. Like muscle building. The muscle is built during recovery out of the gym. Our ability for resilience is founded upon reflection after. Character is what takes lead during crisis.

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Joe Sammartino
Joe Sammartino

Written by Joe Sammartino

Degree holder of psychology and philosophy. World traveler. A creative of ideas just not physically creative.