Tag Archives: comfort

My comfort in exploring and expressing new ideas

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“My comfort in exploring and expressing new ideas appears inversely proportional to my sense of stability.”

Arthur C. Brooks, American author, public speaker, and academic

Image from Unsplash by Hanson Lu

In virtually all sports, athletes do their best to begin and return to a stance of stability.

From these positions they can move powerfully and flexibly in any direction they choose. Because most sports move quickly, we don’t always recognize these rapid returns to regain their footing.

EXERCISE:

How does the concept of stability and coming up with new ideas relate to you in your personal and professional efforts?

Where does stability provide a strong foundation to explore and express new idea in your life?

The more comfortable you become in your skin

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“The more comfortable you become in your skin, the less you need to manufacture the world around you for comfort.”

—Cory Muscara, mindfulness advisor & Univ. of Pennsylvania instructor

Image from Unsplash by Coen Stahl

How many ways can you think of to seek comfort from the world around you? Explore this list and add a few more of your own:

  • The foods you eat
  • The temperature of your home
  • The clothes you wear
  • The time saving devices you use
  • The job you perform
  • The people with whom you associate
  • The apps on your computer or phone
  • Your focus on entertainment and leisure

EXERCISE:

Experiment with increasing longer blocks of time just sitting in the skin you are in.

Focus on just breathing and notice where your mind goes when you are not going anywhere or doing anything.

What insights can you take from this exercise that could apply to the rest of your day?

Don’t let finish line anxiety keep you from ever crossing the starting line.

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“Don’t let finish line anxiety keep you from ever crossing the starting line.”

—Stephen St. Amant, author of the Savenwood Blog

Image from Unsplash by Joshua Hoehne

Many of life’s races have no specific timeline. Although we often have preconceptions that they exist, we can come to realize that many of them are just made up.

What will be accomplished and by when is often of our own choosing.

Even with this awareness we frequently fail to start because of some false milestone and game plan set by outside forces.

EXERCISE:

How can your most important commitments supersede your comfort to remain in the starting blocks of life?

How will you summon the courage to begin and run your own race?

Do not ask what it is. Let us go experience it

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“Do not ask what it is. Let us go experience it.”

—T.S. Elliot, one of the 20th century’s major poets

Image from Unsplash by Maria Oswalt

I tend to be a home body — I’m not into large events or running around to check things off my bucket list.

I do, however, go outside this comfort zone for the people closest to me — especially my children and grandchildren.

My daughter is constantly creating opportunities for her kids to experience new things. Being invited along for the ride, to watch the delight of our little ones, is definitely not to be missed!

EXERCISE:

How often do your find yourself living in your cave of comfort?

Where would FOMO be a good thing to get you off your seat and into the world you’ve been missing?

It is perfectly OK to enjoy familiar things over and over

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It is perfectly OK to enjoy familiar things over and over. Tasting the same fruit twice can be very nice.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Julian Hochgesang

Wendy and I recently returned to Pennsylvania from my first “snow bird” season in Florida. Although I very much enjoyed the sunshine and warmth of our surroundings and the friendships we created, there is something about coming home to what’s most familiar that feels extra nice.

Things that we sometimes overlooked took on a familiar feel much like a favorite pair of warm, cozy pajamas before slipping into our extra cool sheets, given the temperature difference.

EXERCISE:

Where and how do you take extra pleasure in the familiar aspects of your life?

Which of the fruits of your world help you feel most at home?

Discover the home in your head

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Discover the home in your head. Make it a place of love, comfort, wisdom, peace and beauty.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Julian Hochgesang

Home Sweet Home is perhaps the most common phrase on door mats across America. It’s a hopeful saying we wish were true at all times but unfortunately, we often come up short of its aspirational message.

Physical clutter, challenging relationships, and even our inner demons sometime leave a bitter taste we prefer not to swallow.

Although external factors are not always in our control, much work can be done to clean up the home in our head.

Instead of getting out the vacuum, dust pans, and rags, how would greater love, wisdom, and a peaceful heart help you experience the comfort, beauty, and sweetness you desire?

EXERCISE:

What actions can and will you take today to bring more of these wonderful qualities into your life?

Seek out the peace and comfort in the familiar

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Seek out the peace and comfort in the familiar. Enjoy the taste of the same fruit twice.

Image from Unsplash by Taras Shypka

What’s your favorite movie?
How many times have you seen it?
What’s your favorite song?
How often do you play it?
What’s your favorite comfort food?

You get the idea…

With the barrage of media influences these days, there seems to be a lot of pressure to always seek novelty in our lives.

Constantly seeking what’s new to check one more thing off our bucket lists seems to be contagious. This excessive busyness and urgency for more and new rarely offers the enduring peace and comfort we truly want.

EXERCISE:

Where do you seek and find comfort in your daily pursuits?

How does savoring the familiar things in life offer this satisfaction and sweetness?

“Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy …”

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“Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.”

—Anonymous

Photo from Flickr by M01229

Photo from Flickr by M01229

As I write this post, it is a brisk seven degrees here in Michigan, and yet I am still going to  the gym to exercise.

My bed is comfortable, and far warmer than what awaits me outside. What gets me up and going when staying put would be far more pleasant?

Quite simply, I have made exercise a habit that takes far less discipline these days than it did in the past, before it became part of my daily routine.

The factors that lay beneath my exercise habit is the commitment I have made, and the value I attribute to being healthy.

EXERCISE:

What are the bad habits that no longer serve your professional or personal commitments? How will you embrace any discomfort you might experience by replacing one bad habit with one that will serve you better?

“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”

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“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”

– Bill Copeland, Australian athlete

Turtles and tortoises are interesting creatures. Below are a few facts:
1. They actually make a sound, even though they do not have vocal chords.
2. Tortoises orbited the moon before astronauts did, in the Soviet space probe Zond 5.
3. They don’t have ears – but can perceive low-pitched sounds.
4. They are nearly as old as the dinosaurs, with examples going back to over 200 million years ago.
5. They can see color and have a preference for red, orange, and yellow.

Exercise:

Take a few moments to look within yourself and discover the wonders of you, to be at ease in your own shell.

If this is a bit challenging, consider requesting such feedback from those close to you.