Generally speaking, our society encourages us to remain in our comfort zone. We are taught from an early age that we should stick with what is comfortable and does not challenge anything that might make ourselves feel out of place. We tend to keep to the same routines, following in the footsteps of those before us in order to keep ourselves inside our personal comfortable lives. This has to change. Being uncomfortable and throwing yourself into new ideas will expand your knowledge on every subject imaginable. Leaning into discomfort about a subject will actually benefit you than if you were to continually retreat back into your comfort zone.

My first experience with being uncomfortable with subject material was my freshman spring semester when I took a history class taught by a very well liked professor. His view on the world and how our country was founded was very different than what I was taught in high school. It made me very uncomfortable to hear how badly people treated each other back then because in my mind, America was great and always had been. Unfortunately, I had to come to the realization that not everything is as perfect and clean as our history books might tell us. Right now, I am taking a Women’s Studies class that is also challenging the way I view our society. Again, it makes me feel very uncomfortable to realize that the world I thought I lived in is not the world I actually live in, but the best advice that I have been given is to lean into that uncomfortable feeling. Let it sit while the class progresses because it will ultimately lead to a better understanding and more open-minded discussions.

I am not going to get into my view on America and how I think we are doing, that’s a different topic for a different day. However, I think it is important to stress the idea that feeling of being uncomfortable is actually a good thing. It can broaden your understanding of materials and ideas that you may not have ever considered. It exposes you to completely different mindsets and allows you to explore further into the ideas that don’t fit into how you view the world. It’s uncomfortable because what you are being exposed to challenges your comfortable lifestyle and it is not fun to feel like you have been wrong your whole life.

We need to stray away from what is comfortable. We need to branch out and explore different ideas and understandings of the world. We cannot just continue to stay within the bounds we have always known. We have to broaden our horizons because we are global and local citizens. It is foolish to think that our way of understanding and living is the only way to think and do. We have to better understand our world as a whole, which can lead to some very uncomfortable subjects that bring along ideas and values that will challenge us to seek the truth. We have to lean into our discomfort in order to better ourselves and actually be more open-minded.

Do not stay comfortable in your life. Go out and experience things that might challenge your ideas and lifestyle. Keep a good attitude and an open mind while you do so that you can learn from the experiences you have. Being uncomfortable with something is okay. And it is okay to have pieces of your values be challenged by different values. This does not necessarily mean you’re wrong and they’re right, or vice versa, it just means that feeling discomfort when you expose yourself to these new values is okay. It means you can learn from it and seek the truth through the discomfort.

Don’t allow yourself to be contained to a narrow way of thinking. Open your mind and allow the discomfort you feel to expand your knowledge. Understanding each other is the first step in working towards a better, more open-minded global community.