Be Uncomfortable-

Going back as far as you can remember you have been asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” You are asked this question by your parents, Aunts, Uncles, friends, teachers, and even strangers- It’s also true that all of these people whether spoken or not had some idea of what they wanted for your life. Maybe your Dad played ball and envisioned that you would be this great ball player or maybe your Mom wanted your future to be filled with lots of children, but you chose a completely different path. Did you fail, fail who? Not you.We live in a time that we are really able to do anything as long as we put in the work.

At any rate my thoughts are this: Not even one of us knows what the future holds so we just have to live each day and make it count for something. What ever path you choose though- Don’t blame that on anyone but yourself. We all have a story. Take responsibility for your story!

One thing that I tell my kids really on a daily is my hope for you is that what ever you decide that you want to do with your life I pray that you always put yourself in uncomfortable situations because it’s those uncomfortable situations that lead to great things! Absolute truth!
Everything great in your life started with an uncomfortable situation didn’t it? For instance maybe you went out for a sport or club in school and you didn’t know a single person, but hey you made the team and it lead to some awesome memories and experiences. Think back to your husband or wife- I am sure that it was an uncomfortable first date. Had you not had that first uncomfortable conversation you wouldn’t have the life that you have now. What about your career? I bet it was a little nerve racking and uncomfortable going for that interview wasn’t it?

That first conversation that I had with my now husband- was extremely uncomfortable because I had no idea why he would be remotely interested in me because of where I was at in my life at the time. Then that conversation lead to a string of uncomfortable events – the conversation, the date, I’m pregnant, moving in together, selling our Columbia City house, moving to Florida, renting our home on the AIr bnb, selling our Florida home, living in a condo, moving to North Carolina, and every thing in between It has all been so awesome!! So thankful that we chose to be uncomfortable!
For us moving to Florida with our kids and them being forced to step outside the comfort zones that they had lived everyday forced them to put themselves in uncomfortable situations in the aspect of making new friends, finding new interests and trying new things. Those uncomfortable situations that they both put themselves into lead to some really awesome experiences. For Josh and I taking a leap of faith and putting ourselves in an uncomfortable situation really opened up some amazing doors that we maybe would have been to scared to walk through other wise. I think the biggest one for our family was Josh leaving his day to day job to work solely for himself! That was huge, but it has been the biggest blessing because it has really opened our eyes to new possibilities. We are able to be where we want when we want because internet is the driving force behind it.

The thing that happens is that we start putting ourselves in less uncomfortable situations the older we get, that’s why they say older people are “stuck in their ways.” I pray that I am never “stuck” in my ways- Once this happens, I think it’s hard to just be happy because everything around you is changing and you are unwilling to change with it and this causes resentment and anger.

This is true in the work place, a bad relationship, a house, a car, whatever it is. I hear people say all the time how much they hate the job they have, but they will never leave that job because of being scared of being put in that uncomfortable situation. They are unhappy in that marriage because of choices and yet they will never leave because that fear of being uncomfortable sets in- It happens every day!

Don’t let fear of being uncomfortable stop you from putting yourself in those situations- Ensure that you are not only telling your children to put themselves in uncomfortable situations, but also showing them because we all know “monkey see monkey do’ is much truer than not. Being uncomfortable isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually a beautiful thing because of the vulnerability that comes along with that uncomfortableness. Allow yourself to take that chance or leap of faith.

Force yourself to ask that question-The worst thing that can happen when you ask a question is you get told no, but if that’s the worst then I say it’s really not that bad- Because I have learned to take those no’s and turn them into yes’s and that’s okay too! Most the people went after it were told no- Michael Jordan and Oprah and a ton of others… Just because someone says no doesn’t mean that’s the end.