RUN THROUGH
DISCOMFORT
Trey Tucker
Happiness and flourishing have little to do with having an easy life. If it did, we’ d do little to nothing and be good with that. But that’ s not how it works.
Happiness and flourishing have to do with facing and conquering the obstacles and difficulties as it relates to where you are called to go and what you learn from failures and stumbles along the way. This may sound counterintuitive; culture lures us to chase the quick and easy and the feel good. But studies reveal that embracing discomfort can help us grow, which means that when we avoid discomfort, we don’ t grow.
Learning to face and run through discomfort is a core strength of a man. That’ s why it’ s important for us to work at cultivating toughness.
Don’ t like public speaking? Push yourself to do it and grow. Tend to avoid hard conversations that should be had? Push yourself to do it and grow. According to Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach,“ Achieving personal growth often requires experiencing discomfort.”
Pushing ourselves is rarely fun at the beginning because the discomfort we fear usually comes immediately, trying to distract us and pull us up short. No one likes obstacles, and most of us, especially men, try to avoid discomfort.
That’ s why when something doesn’ t feel right or feels hard, our first instinct is often to run in the opposite direction. We take what seems like the easier path— not because it leads to something better, but because it
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