Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

So there is the cliche saying that success is 90% showing up...

I really do not like sayings, especially the ones that are on the wooden boards that get plastered all over shops and houses.

Do we really need reminders how to live a life full of goodness and meaning?

I really hope not.

But the saying: success is 90% showing up is ringing true in my life.

Most of the time I really, really, really, do not want to do anything. It's the joyous sign of depression. My bed seems just fine to me, and all those things on my todo list will be there tomorrow and the days following.

The only thing that has been getting my off my ass is running.

I signed up for Team In Training (TNT) on a Saturday morning when Jordan and I were fighting. I felt really depressed and did't want to do anything but I didn't want to stay home and get the silent treatment anymore. So I showed up for an information session.

On a whim I signed up for the Big Sur marathon and also signed up to raise 3500$ for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

It was the best decision I have made in a long time.

Through my training with TNT I have met amazing people and I have also made running connections outside of the team.

There is a world out there I never knew existed. And as I am learning this, I am also learning to try to new things.

I realize this sounds silly but as we grow older it is easy to get stuck in a rut. We become stagnant where we are at, trying new things becomes to much of a burden.

But the world has so much to offer. There is so much to learn through experiences and people. How can we pass up these opportunities?

I am a socially awkward person so I understand how easy it is to stay home where you don't have to push yourself. I would be completely OK with having my head in my books all damn day, every day but then what?

Have you ever tried having a conversation with a novel? They really never change what they have to say, unlike people.

People are brilliant and are blessed with spectacular minds. We cannot distance ourselves from others just because it is uncomfortable.

We are human, that means we learn more from being uncomfortable and pushing ourselves then through being comfortable and stagnant.

Let us nourish our minds and spirits through new experiences that build new relationships.

It's where we go, and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are.
-Joyce Carol Oates