COLLEGE PARK, MD –
Improving our lives entails discomfort.
Improvement can be tricky to realize, however, and just being uncomfortable is not a sign that improvement is on the horizon.
Improvement requires effort. It is work – hard work. There’s no way around that.
To use a well-worn platitude, to improve our situation we must get out of our comfort zones. So when we undertake to improve our lives, we are asking ourselves, and perhaps those closest to us by association, to get uncomfortable.
That will naturally lead to friction. We aren’t requesting something easy of ourselves or others.
Throughout the phases of a particular improvement, we will be fought, perhaps by our lower selves, our families, our friends, or all of the above.
This is not a bad sign, necessarily. It could be or it could not be.
It all depends on how we are controlling the reins.
Reign of balance
If we push too hard (ie force matters), we’ll exhaust our energy and capabilities as well as any good will we receive from comrades. Improvement is a long shot in that scenario.
As soon as we’re not around to force our way the status quo will be returned to its former place – or worse.
On the other hand, if we push too little improvement will never occur. That should not be a desirable option for us, either.
The only way to improve is to push the right amount – balancing out the two scenarios above.
It is still uncomfortable and will lead to friction, but it is something that can be done and is worth the effort involved.
Improvement is linked to preparation and we’ve previously discussed the agitation of preparation.
The fact that our lower selves or others are agitated should not, in and of itself, give us pause as to the effectiveness of our efforts to improve our selves and surroundings.
What we should be concerned with is whether we are pushing our comfort zones in a healthy and sustainable manner.
When we control the reins of improvement properly, we can hope for balance to reign supreme in our lives – whether or not others are happy campers in the interim is a different story.
At the reins,
Tarif