From Epicurus to Bentham to Freud, it has been postulated that it is instinctive in man to seek pleasure and avoid pain. I’m not going to dispute that theory, but I am going to object to how pain is defined in that theory, because generally, it is used as a synonym for discomfort.
In reality, pain is a message from your body indicating that something is wrong. Ignore it at your own peril, for it could be serious. Discomfort is your brain telling you it would rather be doing something more pleasurable.
The irony is we can’t grow as persons without discomfort. Was that first day of Calculus or Organic Chem comfortable? Probably not. It’s the same with physical exercise. Attempting a workout that challenges us is probably not initially comfortable.
The point is, we have to work through discomfort if we are to reach our goals. Many, many years ago, I ran a marathon. At around mile 19 or 20, I could have mistaken what I was feeling as pain. Fortunately, there was nothing physically wrong with my body and I was just experiencing extreme discomfort.
It’s important to be able to discern the difference between pain and discomfort, and it’s amazing how many people can’t. Look around at all the people who quit when the going gets tough. They’re not in physical pain, they’re just experiencing discomfort to varying degrees.
With practice, however, it is possible to train ourselves to increase the amount of discomfort we are able to tolerate, be it physical or mental. The only way I’m aware of how to do that is by continuing to put ourselves in uncomfortable situations, but we will only do that if we can see how it will help us accomplish our goals. The paradox is that the more discomfort we experience, the more comfortable we become with that discomfort!
Now I enjoy creature comforts as much as the next person, but I also realize that comfortable behavior is usually more about tension-relieving as opposed to goal-achieving. So pursuing your goals needn’t be painful, just uncomfortable!
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