Not sure if your brain goes where mine does, but the first thing I think of when I hear the term “creature comfort” is the song by Arcade Fire.

 

God, make me famous

If you can’t just make it painless

Just make it painless

Creature comfort, make it painless

Can you relate?

I know I can.  Not so much about the wanting to be famous part, but about wanting life to be painless.  It’s human nature.  We don’t want pain to be inflicted on us.

But have you ever stopped to really think about the measures we go to avoid pain or difficulties?

How many times have we heard a thick-necked P.E. teacher yell at the top of their hoarse voice boxes: “NO PAIN, NO GAIN!!!”

I can confidently say that those words drove me to write several fake doctor’s notes in attempts to get out of gym class and sit on the cold metal bleachers; which are only ever comfortable when you are not running in below freezing weather around a track with your classmates.

But then I complained when I wasn’t good at sports.  And when I didn’t have a fit body.  I wanted to be athletic and have a good body, but I didn’t want to work out.  Cue the lyrics:

We wanna dance but we can’t feel the beat.

I’m not here writing this to tell you I have finally accomplished my 2018 New Year’s Resolution of getting a gym membership; so sorry to disappoint you (or maybe this is reassuring news to some).  And yes, I did say 2018 and I am fully aware that 2019 is only slightly over a month away.

What I’m getting at is that comfort is a trap.  It’s a seductive lure that reels us into an 8 hour Netflix marathon of [fill in the blank].  It feels good in the moment…yet there’s always a little bit of guilt intertwined with the good feels and useless knowledge that vervet monkeys in St. Kitts are addicted to alcohol (yass, Animal Planet, yasss).

Maybe it’s not Netflix, but it’s your city. Even though you don’t really want to stay there, it’s comfortable.  It’s good enough.  The bartender knows your name, and you get good discounts at your local deli.  So what if you’ve always dreamed of going somewhere else?  Everyone here knows you already, and you know everyone that’s ever going to make a difference in your life already….right?

Maybe it’s not your city, but it’s your job.  A relationship.  You get the point, I don’t know your life… you’re the only one who knows that thing you may be tempted to settle for in the name of comfort in your life.

I have fallen into the comfort trap in the past, and probably will in the future, but the first step, just like all self-improvement methods, is admitting you have a problem!! But before you can admit you have a problem, you have to come to realize there are things that are seemingly adding value to your life, but in reality are taking away from your quality and depth of life.

I don’t mean that we should all live like Buddhist monks with zero furniture in our homes.  However, striving for a life of consistent comfort keeps us from living up to our full potential.  It makes us settle for plan B, instead of fighting for plan A.

Yup – that’s right.  If you want your life to be a plan A, you have to fight for it.  And it’s a life long process.

“But, wait! Fighting is painful! I don’t want to feel pain!  I think, my couch is calling my name right now…. let’s talk about this after this episode”.

Heh- get the trap??

We are all born with dreams in our hearts, and they are not there by accident! Maybe they’re buried underneath distractions, complacency, hopelessness, or people’s expectations.  This world makes it far too easy to settle for second best.  Or third. Or fourth.

I’ve been tempted to settle many times throughout my life thus far.  For a job.  For a guy.  For a life that other people tell me I should live.  To not pursue my dreams.  But I refuse to give up seeking.

I got really close to giving up in the past.  I can tell you I probably would’ve stopped seeking if I never came across the hope of Jesus in my life.  He revealed Himself to me when I was at the most hopeless point in my life.  I know it may sound weird and crazy to some to hear me say this, especially to those who know my past, but it’s the honest truth; there’s no other way for me to put it.  I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if it weren’t for that.

For years, I was seeking was a calling.  Fulfilment.  Identity.  Belonging.  Hope. I wasn’t seeking Jesus.  In fact, I was running from Him.  The ironic part is that I never realized that I was seeking all those things until Jesus was the fulfilment of them all.  It wasn’t until I experienced His presence fill a void I didn’t even know was in my heart that I realized my whole life I had been seeking fulfilment in all the wrong places, and they only left me feeling empty inside.  But despite continually feeling empty, I kept seeking, and He found me.

It’s been a process and a journey, and still is, but I know that I’ve never been closer to finding my true purpose in this world until now.

Only in the last 2 weeks did I meet 2 women who are living the closest things to what I have been dreaming my life to look like.   Before I met them, I truly thought the type of travel lifestyle I’ve been seeking out was still somewhat of a fragment of my imagination.  Encountering these women has inspired and invoked so much more fire and hope in me that I am going in the right direction, and that my dreams are actually attainable.  I haven’t arrived, but I know I’m on the right path.

I wouldn’t have this fire in my heart if I chose to succumb to the temptation of staying where I was comfortable, and I was very close to not coming to this program because of that.  I was super comfortable with my life in San Diego.  ­Comfortable with a job that drove me crazy most of the time.  I was uncomfortable for so long trying to set up a life there, that I felt entitled to a life of comfort once I had it.  But I was at risk of complacency.  If I continued at the rate I was at, I would never move forward towards my dreams, despite deceiving myself that I was.  I’d settle for comfortable.

But the truth is, you may be comfortable, but if you’re not living life in your passion(s), you will have no energy for the rest of life, therefore continually choosing comfort.  Aka it’s a trap.  Watch out.

Know that God has dreams for your life that only you can choose.  And yes, it is a choice.  You don’t have to choose them; or God.  You do not have to include God in your dreams to pursue them.  But dreams will only stay dreams, unless there is action taken towards them.

From my own personal experience, attempting to follow my dreams in my own strength only lead me to confusion and hopelessness.  I have come to realize and experience that there is an unlimited God out there that planted dreams, strengths, experiences and gifts inside you that are perfectly made for YOU.  ­I can say this because I have been experiencing it; I’m not making it up or just regurgitating some bible verse someone showed to me to make me feel better. I’m living it.

I hope I’m speaking for more than just myself when I say that I don’t want to live my life for a plan B.  The reality is that we don’t know how many days we have on this earth.  I’m not going to believe the lie that once I am “established” I can start doing something meaningful with my life.  I want to live the life God created me to live.

I dare you to write down a list of every single thing that you like doing.  All your interests.  All your strengths.  Favorite experiences, and why.

What’s something that you want to become a bigger part of your life?

How can you take a step towards it?

What are the dreams for your life?

Dream without limits.  It takes faith to dream.  If you only do/ dream of the things you know you can do, you don’t need faith.

Ask yourself: Are you living life for comfort and ease? Is that how you want to look back on your life when you’re on your deathbed?

I can bring some Flaming Lips in here too….

Do you realize, oh, oh, oh?
Do you realize that everyone you know
Someday will die?

Okay, don’t mean to be morbid, but just trying to get some fire in your butts.  Get up! Find your fire! The world is counting on it!

There is no life without a calling; without a purpose.  Go find it!  (Warning: this requires effort, energy, patience and persistence- comfort will not endorse this choice).

Keep seeking. Whatever that means to you.  Just keep seeking, and don’t give up hope.

Keep me accountable! And I will do the same for you.