I would not call myself brave. But, I would certainly call myself uncomfortable. I’m uncomfortable in my humor, in my mannerisms and in my place in the world. I’m uncomfortable all the time. And I’m not upset about it.
I would say that I have a relatively high concern for other people and the well-being of the world around me. I want to fix problems and I want to help contribute to making the world a better place. I certainly do not want to make it worse. I try to be kind, I try to accommodate others and I try to make decisions that can have positive results.
It has recently occurred to me that being uncomfortable, in ways that aren’t easy, is so monumentally important. It would be an understatement to say that I am opinionated, so when faced with equally opinionated people providing a (worthy) opposition, I am sometimes uncomfortable. But I think that's normal and good and helpful.
When we are faced with facts or oppositions that make us uncomfortable, the door is open for us to confront those feelings and truly evaluate where we stand and why we’re there. If I was never confronted by issues and facts that invited me to lose my comfort zone, I’d probably still be the same, passive girl I was in the fourth grade. I’m not meant to be that girl, I don’t think any of us are intended to remain passive for our whole lives. It’s not conducive to our own personal growth or the growth and improvement of global societies.
I remember, vividly, the first time I found myself truly uncomfortable with an issue. When I was about 12, my science class started talking about the issue of global climate change. It was a heavy topic for any 12-year-old, and still is for most people. But, it was a topic unlike anything I had never truly faced, and I felt uncomfortable that I didn’t know how to feel about it. Quickly, I realized that the only way to assuage this feeling was to get more information so I could start to figure out what role I wanted to play in that conversation.
I don’t feel different about facing things that make me uncomfortable today. I’m not always wrestling with where to stand on the issue of global climate change or similarly monstrous topics; sometimes I’m made uncomfortable when faced with the decision of what classes to take or how I want to apply to my degree to my post-graduate endeavors.
Now, though, I can take comfort in facing the uncertain parts of my own heart and of the world. Life is not intended to be easy. We are most significantly defined by the moments in which we choose to find it important enough to take a strong, educated stance on the issues that matter. It is important to sacrifice comfort for bravery and be brave enough to be uncomfortable because without a call to grow, we probably won’t.
