For this week’s Mental Sunshine, I want to suggest something that might seem a bit counterintuitive
I want to suggest that you embrace discomfort in your life.
Yes, I know this sounds like the opposite of Mental Sunshine!
But bear with me.
These days, our lives have become pretty comfortable
Compare your life with your great-grandparents’ lives
They probably didn’t have a car to take them shopping
Or 24-hour delivery on “essential” items
They probably didn’t own a washing machine, let alone a TV with on-demand streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows
They probably cooked most of their meals from scratch. Every day. No Deliveroo.
I’m not suggesting you should turn the clock back and live like your great grandparents
But I am suggesting that you should look for the more difficult or challenging route from time to time.
When there’s no challenge or difficulty in our lives, it’s actually not good for us
With no challenge, there’s no sense of accomplishment
No sense of autonomy
We think life is easier – but it’s also more boring, less rewarding.
Discomfort doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do something
Tolerating discomfort in small doses can bring growth and helps to rewire new pathways in the brain
Things like taking the stairs
Having a cold shower – or a swim in a cold lake!
Going to the gym
Doing the thing where your first thought is “I’m not sure if I can be bothered…”
Be bothered!
See what happens.
This one has the double benefit of being both a gradual change over time, and an immediate burst of sunshine
When you do the uncomfortable thing, you feel a little buzz of achievement
And over time, becoming someone who chooses the uncomfortable thing helps you to have more of a growth mindset
It expands your comfort zone, so that you’re more comfortable trying new things
What discomfort can you embrace today?