The Most Important Life Lesson

Hello my darlings! Thank you for stopping by! I had a very busy week at work and now I feel very satisfied with how it went! Sometimes we have difficulties in life and we are afraid of them. But once we go through these difficulties, we actually feel good about ourselves. And this is what my today's post is about.

Here is the link to the video for my today's post: The Most Important Life Lesson.

The most important lesson I learned in life was the idea that discomfort is good for me. By nature we tend to lean towards comfort, but it actually makes us weaker and less happy. And only in uncomfortable situation we can find ourselves. When you sit through discomfort, you can see how strong you are, how much you can handle.

I created a metaphor for myself which helps me to stay strong and I hope it will help you too.

Imagine that you are a lighthouse. And there is a storm in the sea. You would like to escape it, but you can't. You have to stay strong and feel all these unpleasant cold waves and wind. There is no place to hide. But when you do it again and again, you understand, that even thou the waves are uncomfortable, they still cannot break you. And at some point you stop being afraid of the storm and you are enjoying it just because it only proves to you how great you are! If there was no storm, you wouldn't know it.

Unfortunately, when we see the waves coming at us, we try to build a barrier between storm and the lighthouse. And we build it with external things: alcohol, drugs, sex, complaining, etc. There are a lot of things we can use to avoid discomfort. And all of them are bad for you. In the end of the day, if you want to have a happy life, you need to stop using all these external thing and just face the difficulties and prove to yourself that you can handle everything.

It does take time to learn how to sit through discomfort. But if we want to experience short term pleasure, we can do it right away. That is why it is easier to chase pleasures. But happiness created by these pleasures doesn't last. For example, I love croissants. And I eat 1 croissant per month. When I eat it, I feel good, it taste so yummy. But once I ate it, it's gone. So pleasure lasts for 5 minutes only. And yesterday I ran by the lake. It was 30 degrees Fahrenheit, snowing, not extremely pleasant. I had to put efforts to force myself to go out. But this morning run made me super happy and gave me energy for the whole day. So when you put efforts to make something good for yourself, you actually become much happier than if you choose something easy.

Let me bring you the examples of what scientists are saying about comfort versus discomfort. These are not exact quotes, but the ideas I learned from their interviews.

Andrew Huberman, professor from Stanford University said, "I actually worry that if humans keep seeking for these comfort zones instead of effort, we can actually devolve as opposed to evolve".

Here is the link to the interview: Unleash Your Brain Power and Growth Mindset - w/ Dr. Andrew Huberman

David Sinclair, professor from Harvard said, "The problem with our society is that everything is designed to be comfortable, that's what we strive for. We are killing ourselves, we are accelerating our aging process. Get out of this comfort zone".

Here is the link to the interview: The 8 SECRETS To Age In Reverse & LIVE LONGER Today! | David Sinclair & Lewis Howes

I also highly recommend you to listen to David Goggins interviews and watch his videos on YouTube. There are plenty of them. I think he mastered the way of how suffering can be used for self-development. Here is an example of one of his speeches: YOU MUST SUFFER - Powerful Motivational Video | David Goggins

I also would like to share the link to a very beautiful video of lighthouses. When you feel like storm is coming, you can watch it and remind yourself, how strong you are: Lighthouses in Storm.

Remember, the nature created you the way you can handle everything. You are like these lighthouses. The storms don't break them. And your difficulties won't break you, You don't need to hide, don't need to build delusional barriers. It doesn't matter how strong discomfort is. The stronger the better actually, because then it makes you stronger. It feels so good when you know that you can overcome any problems! It is impossible to describe this feeling, this is something you need to experience. And then you can become this rare person who is not hiding, but facing all challenges without fear. And you can do it, it is all in your hands!

I hope I was convincing enough and next time when things go not the way you planned, you will laugh at your difficulties and will thank life for throwing them at you!

Be Strong And Love Yourself!

From Dasha With Love!

Love Wins!