The Dangers of Comfort
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
from the years 1997 to 2001
my father was a military man he battled
his way through basic training and
passed all of his lessons at the defense
language institute in monterey
california
eventually he was deployed with his
newlywed to south korea
where he was to act as a linguist my
father could tell me terrific tales of
his time in china’s shadow
however there is one army truism that
has stuck with me all of my life
he explained to me that it is easy to
fall asleep anywhere and hard to stay
awake everywhere
he told me that in order to stay awake
during his dull duties he would have to
place himself in
uncomfortable positions he even told me
a story about how some of his battle
buddies would fill their mouths with
water before class
as the words of their lieutenant lulled
them off to sleep
their jaws would go slack the water
would slip down their collars and they
would be shocked awake
whatever it took you had to guarantee
your alertness
you had to be uncomfortable to do your
job
i have taken this tiny tablet of
knowledge with me when dealing with
many aspects of my life i work at a
donut shop
called wyman spudnuts my duties here are
to mix
cut cook frost and serve
i often find myself slipping off into an
endless
doughnut hole i can feel my brain
sinking into the bubbles of the boiling
oil
my vision melting like glaze over the
fried dough
it is at these moments when i make my
way to the back kitchen
turn the water to ice cold or volcano
hot and plunge my hands in
my immediate reaction is to recoil
however this determination of flea can
be transformed into something else
alertness clarity hits my mind the
moment the water hits my hands
this discomfort is something i use to my
advantage
instead of trying to avoid discomfort is
something we are taught with a negative
connotation
rather it is a tool that should be
valued for its practical purposes
but can harnessing a bit of discomfort
change your life
let me offer an analogy a high school
cross country race
is one of the most wretched forms of
child abuse
the only reason it is not illegal is
because the victims volunteer themselves
i will paint for you the setting
hundreds of people are milling about a
golf course on a sunny day
lines have been chalked on the ground
mothers wear cameras around their necks
and coaches hand out id numbers to the
runners
everything appears calm quiet
comfortable but what you don’t see is
the mayhem
in the runner’s mind inside his cranium
is a jumble of
endorphins intensity vulgarity
and fear this is you the moment you burn
the map
and escape your comfort the task ahead
is new
it’s risky there is every opportunity to
fail your coach
shame your parents and embarrass
yourself
this terror eats you alive all the way
through warm-ups
your mind is fogged with fear as you
stretch your coach’s pep talk only mixes
in with your agitation
finally the time for the race has come
you walk up to the starting line
even though your soul is tugging you
back towards your comfort zone
all the runners line up the official
states the rules
you hear one last squeal of
encouragement from your little brother
then ready set bang
hits the fear that fogged your mind
fades into a stampede of
acne body odor and desperation
it doesn’t get any easier or harder than
this you’ve already broken away from the
pack and immersed
yourself in the uncomfortable you are
now invested in your discomfort
you have spent your time enduring pain
let your discomfort be a constant
reminder of what you now
have to lose by not accomplishing your
goal
let failure become unfathomable and you
will finish
but that’s not to say you won’t face any
more hardship
after about a mile into the race
adrenaline wears off
you start to become conscious of your
breathing of the burn in your legs
and of the distance before you settle in
it is about to get miserable it is
important in these moments to find an
anchor in the real world to drag
yourself out of your suffering
for me it is often my cross-country
coach rarely will i look up during a
race and not see
coach peter 100 yards down the course
he’s always screaming
you need to be here you need to be here
while pointing to a group of opposing
runners this passes as encouragement in
the cross-country world
remember what i said about child abuse
encouragement makes it so much easier to
invite pain into your life
someone else believing in you while you
suffer through your discomfort
makes the goal seem more accessible as a
runner
i know there is no other way to deal
with this encouragement than by doing
the louis armstrong
exhale
relaxing my shoulders and focusing my
mind
on my goal unfortunately we aren’t out
of the depths yet
the race is not over until the finish
line flows underneath your feet
in between you and that great glory is
nothing but dust
distance and discomfort at this point
you must remind yourself
why you started what forced you up to
the starting line with all those other
terrified runners
what forced you to choke down the
pleadings of your fearful soul
what forced you to pursue this
discomfort quite simply
you did in the end the race is for you
the finish line is something you wanted
so you
literally chased it forget about your
competitors
your coach your family your fear
and remember that every single step you
took on your own
you can see the finish line now and the
pain vanishes
your hands go numb and flashes pop in
and out of your vision like falling
stars
your legs sag and your chest groans but
you keep driving your knees toward the
finish line
one more step and you collapse
i wish i could say that this comfort is
over however
after a race you still have to
recuperate your body convulses
it is entirely possible to fall
unconscious and for the next
two days every muscle in your body will
strain with every step
this pain is something you would have
acknowledged before the race
instead your mind has built a barrier
against the exhaustion
your discomfort has become your reality
fireworks of ecstasy and joy will erupt
within you
as a runner i can personally attest to
how quickly all of my shadow doubts fade
with the light of finishing a race
i start each race as a terrified little
boy
a boy that fears pain accepts good
enough
and has no desire but by the end i
swallowed my fear and took that first
step across the starting line
i acknowledged what i had to lose and
refused to give it up
i endured the discomfort and i did it
for myself
whether you are serving your country in
korea running a race against savage
teenagers
simply trying to stay sane while frying
donuts
or dealing with whatever matters in your
life discomfort will prove to be your
greatest ally
so i encourage you go be uncomfortable
[Applause]
[Music]
you