Comfort is the enemy of the man who wants to live a meaningful life. -Chad Howse
I went on a hike the other day with a few pals out into the Rockies. It wasn’t anything incredibly arduous. Two of us had snowshoes, one goofball didn’t bring any, so we rotated using those fine contraptions that allow you to stay above the snow rather than stuck within it.
Toward the end of the hike, my body began to annoy me. A few weeks ago I sprained my ankle running down the stairs to witness what I thought was a raccoon fight. I was disappointed, and my ankle got torn up in the process. On the hike, toward the end, it began to throb.
Lactic acid was also building up. I tried to walk faster, even run, but I was getting slower by the step. In my head I began to bitch and moan until I realized that I was bitching and moaning.
It’s then that I realized that my life has become far too easy.
I don’t feel enough pain. I don’t have to push through those seconds and minutes where all you want to do is quit.
If I’m to live a grand life, to exceed even audacious goals, I need to place more discipline and pain on a life in a society that’s almost devoid of both – at least in comparison to how things were.
IT’S COMFORT THAT WE ASPIRE TO CREATE.
IT’S COMFORT THAT WILL BE OUR DEATH.
Comfort is the enemy of any man wanting to not only achieve something profound and great, but to live a life of meaning.
“Living”, I think we’ll all agree, cannot exist on a couch. It cannot exist in the mundane and mediocre. Living has to occur in our times of strife, of struggle, and in those moments where we persist.
The act of living is involved in work. It’s involved in becoming better, not resting nor giving up. The act of living occurs in facing fears, in pushing beyond, in adventure.
Daily we’re training to become average.
That hike slapped the bitch out of me and made me realize that while I wake up early and work long hours, there’s still much more I can do. There’s still far more discipline that I can add to my life.
It’s within discipline that you find freedom.
