Action and Discomfort Help Cultivate Positive Change

Last weekend I did something I've never done - I went winter camping with a few soccer buddies up to Algonquin Park.

I was excited about this trip for a few reasons.

1) I love the outdoors (as people who know me and those who read the Zen Blog are aware).

2) It was something new to experience. It was taking my love for nature and camping, and giving me a new adventure.

3) I'm going with 3 great guys so you know it's going to be fun.

However, a couple things had me on guard a bit.

1) The fact that I had never been winter camping was both exciting and filled me with many unknowns.

2) The forecast was anything but nice, with nearly -40C with windchills forecasted. The "warm" temperatures were looking to be in the -20's over the course of our weekend.

We had every option however of leaving anytime we wanted. We were in the park, so our vehicles were right there with us if need be and certainly only our own male stubborness was keeping us there. No pressure.

An Adventure it was

I won't share the entire weekend story here as it's not the point of my post. I will say that I would certainly go winter camping again. The atmosphere that mother nature provided up there was nothing short of spectacular. Look at the pic our friend, Ian took Saturday evening at "the beach".

I mean come on! You can't beat that!

I will say however, that at those temperatures I'm not sure I would go without hestitation next time. Simply because it's just too cold to do what the four of us enjoy which is hiking, exploring and spending time outside. In those temperatures, it was a "stay sheltered" kind of weekend.

Discomfort to Grow, Learn and Live

I've spoke on this topic before on the Zen Blog, about how our modern comfort is actually hindering our abilities to be healthy, happy, grow, learn and LIVE. One of my favourite health books I recommend on my list is the "Comfort Crisis" by Michael Easter who speaks to this fact in depth. My first winter camping experience, in a weekend with intense winter weather really pointed out where we are holding ourselves back from creating change.

We are so used to being totally comfortable now a days, that it takes only slightest shift from comfort to have us panicked. We are subconciously teaching our brains that everything is "supposed to be just right" all the time. From the temperature of our homes, workplaces and vehicles to the comfort of our favourite chair in the living room, we are avoiding doses of discomfort... and it's doing more harm than good in our health and lifestyle. Many of us won't go outside for a short walk if the temperature isn't just right, let alone spending a weekend outdoors (at any time of year). Comfort is so engrained in our lifestyle that it feels "impossible" for many to feel even MINOR discomfort. That feeling of "impossible" however, could not be further from the truth.

*Please note, I'm trying to say "I'm right" and others are "wrong". I'm not saying that "the 4-stooges" are better than anyone this weekend because we went camping in those winter conditions. Trust me, there were several others there in the park doing the exact same as we were, so we're not alone or special. A minority, yes. Maybe a little bit of crazy mixed in, yes. But nothing special.

Experiencing Moments of Discomfort Mimics Life

Were we loving every second of our very cold weekend camping? No way! Were there moments where the only thing you could think of was how cold our fingers or toes were. Absolutely. But these were MOMENTS. They came and went. They were also interspersed with laughter, stories, memories and (some) warmth. Saturday afternoon into the evening for example, we had the hot tent temperature to the point we could take our jackets off and relax in our sweaters as we played some crokinole, played guitar, watched some of the olympics on my friend's tablet and enjoyed some food and drinks.

Allowing ourselves to be uncomfortable for spurts of time helps us better manage LIFE, because it mimics real life. Life isn't happy and amazing ALL THE TIME - It ebs and flows, it's hard and easy, it's good and not so good... It's comfortable and uncomfortable. Practicing SOME discomfort in our days/weeks/months allows us to better strengthen our resilience for when LIFE gets uncomfortable. And it 100% WILL.

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One thing I learned from this adventure was that when you do something that the MINORITY of people do, it creates a discomfort before you even leave. When people learn what you're going to do you get comments like;

"Are you nuts?"

"You know it's going to be really cold?"

(this one really annoyed me)

"Why?"

When you think about it, when people hear something a person is going to do that's not the norm for most, they immediately think it's "crazy" and/or can't understand why someone would CHOOSE to do it. It's because....

MOST of us rarely venture out for a 10min walk if it's below freezing in the winter

because it's "too cold"

OR

because it's too hot or too humid in the summer

OR

because it's too rainy and damp in the spring and fall

We are SO "discomfort adverse" that we will find ANY reason (big or small) to avoid any amount of discomfort.

Discomfort Creates Resilience and Growth

There lies the major concern and barrier of our modern approach to health. When we ACTIVELY avoid nearly all levels of discomfort in our daily routines, we can't build resiliency or change into our health because it WILL REQUIRE some level of discomfort;

• When we lift weights we experience some discomfort in the resistance, in "the burn", in the effort

• When we go for a walk, hike or run we experience some discomfort in our increased breathing and muscle fatigue

• When we do yoga we experience discomfort in the ability to do a pose that the person beside us can do "easily"

• When we pick up an instrument we experience the discomfort of realizing "it's hard" and it will take time

• When we first try to paint a picture we experience discomfort when our trees look nothing like Bob Ross' trees from his TV show

• When we try to change a habit of any kind, we experience discomfort because it's out of our norm and it's not automatic for us yet

• When we try a new food, we experience discomfort in the unknown or perhaps in the taste itself.

See the connection? When we don't allow minor discomforts to be a regular part of our experiences, many aspects of our health and wellbeing will seem further and further out of reach!

The common donominator here, is that in just these few examples here and my winter camping experience - we're fine! We survive. We've learned something new. We've maybe changed in mind, in body and even in spirit in our approach to whatever that discomfort is. So why NOT make it a practice to have some discomfort sometimes?

Humans are here, today, BECAUSE WE ARE RESILIENT and incredibly ADAPTABLE. We learn to manage challenging situations (minor or major) and from those we GROW and STRENGTHEN in many ways. Ways that sitting in your comfy spot on the couch and saying "Hey Google! Turn the temperature up 2 degrees" can't do for us.

LET YOURSELF experience SOME level of discomfort at times, for the SAKE OF YOUR DEEP HEALTH.