| We are just coming through a heat dome event. It’s been unbearable hot here but thankfully most, if not all, of you reading this live in a home that has air conditioning, and so as hot as it is we aren’t exactly suffering. I’m pretty sure most of you have a car or access to transportation of some kind and so getting to and from places is thankfully pretty easy as well. I am also pretty confident that short of the home garden, none of you are growing your own food in order to survive. Thank goodness for that right?! Our lives have become very, very comfortable. Sounds enviable, but there is a dark side to all this comfort. We have almost become addicted to it. And yes, this addiction to comfort comes at a cost. You may not realize this but regulating our temperature burns calories. Our bodies have to work in order to cool down or warm up. You know what else takes energy? Digesting. Especially foods that come straight from a farmers field. The foods that come out of a box are usually modified in such a way that our body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest it. Which means we digest faster and are therefore hungrier sooner. And don’t get me started about hunger. God forbid we should get hungry. Myself included, I have a hard time being hungry, I try to avoid it and if I get there I try to remedy it as soon as possible…and yet it is a perfectly normal state to be in. We should be able to go long periods without food and yet most of us can’t. We either psychologically don’t like the idea of being hungry or our metabolism and blood sugar is so out of whack that we can’t handle it. We get hangry…and no one wants that! And so we perpetually seek to stay within a very small comfort zone. According to Michael Easter, the author of The Comfort Crisis, “Our constant search for ease and convenience has resulted in physical stagnation, mental health challenges, and a disconnection from nature.” One of the central themes of his book is the concept of hormesis, which is the idea that exposure to small amounts of stress or discomfort can lead to improved health and resilience. Our lives are so good and yet physical and mental health is at an all time low. And our addiction to comfort is a great contributor to that. You know what’s uncomfortable? Hard exercise. But you know what is more uncomfortable? Being weak and tight and dependent. Putting down your screens, starting a new hobby, trying to meet new people, putting yourself out there. That’s uncomfortable. But do you know what is more uncomfortable? Loneliness and disconnection. One more example of something that’s uncomfortable…saying no. But unless you say no to lesser goals you will never get a chance to say yes to something greater. And so, I ask you to ponder this question. If you said no to one (comfortable) thing, what yes would that open up for you? |
| Remember.. your yes lives inside the land of no. Don’t be afraid to use it. Christine xo |
