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