Discomfort brings growth.
It’d be great if we could go through life being ‘good people’ and because we were kind to others, obeyed our parents, did well in school, and showed up on time for work, that we would have no problems.
However, it’s yet to happen, and it never will, because it isn’t the way life goes.
Imagine how physically weak you’d be if you never lifted anything that required effort. Your body only grows stronger as the result of lifting, stretching, pushing your body to lift weight, and engaging your muscles.
Life is the same way. The easy life, a life where you never have to do anything you don’t want to, where you don’t have to put forth any effort, or where nothing ever challenged you, caused you to try, to think, to ask questions, that kind of life would leave you weak, undereducated, and dependent.
It’s through the trials in life, the challenges, the hard days, the tough weeks, the bad moments that we grow. It’s in those times that we figure out who we are, what we can withstand, how to handle obstacles, and what we know and still need to learn.
Anyone who has ever started a business, graduated, raised a child, moved out on their own, etc has endured bumps, hard times.
Would they have liked to avoid them? I’m sure.
Did they feel like quitting at times? Probably.
But, do you know what happens when you endure, when you go through, and not give up in the middle, when you choose to complete what you’ve started and to not quit, you strengthen yourself. Not only have you strengthened your resiliency muscle, but you’ve added to your knowledge and wisdom bank, and you now have a better understanding of just what you’re capable of.
Hard things don’t kill you. They may feel like they will, they may wreck your patience, get on your last nerve, make you cry, or just plain suck. But, they are growth opportunities, and those experiences are what you can reference when encouraging others to do the same.