Are You Getting Too Comfortable?

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a great start.

Well, another week is behind us. I hope you accomplished everything you set out to do. For most of us, that consists of simply getting through the week without anything going seriously wrong. If we can make it to Friday mostly unscathed, we feel like the week was a success.

More often than not, that’s the way it works out. We may face a few issues during the week, but if we’re still employed and there were no trips to the emergency room, we go into the weekend looking forward to two days of rest and maybe catching up on a few things around the house. But any lingering issues from the previous week can wreck those plans real fast.

So, let me get this straight. A successful life is one that simply involves getting through the week without any catastrophes? If that’s our definition of success, we’ve missed the boat somewhere along the way. Because, if any of us had been asked to define our dream life back in our youth, I doubt we’d have given that answer.

But life has a way of making us appreciate the simple things. Really simple. You know, like maintaining the status quo and never rocking the boat. Get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, go to bed. Day after day after day. And there comes a point for most of us where, if we can stay on an even keel and maintain that existence, we’re happy. Because it sure beats the alternative.

But that assumes the alternative is something sinister, something that’ll throw our happiness into disarray and leave us scrambling just to get our heads above water. Because we’ve been conditioned to making that assumption. There are only two possible realities, at least for people “like us.” We can glide along on the surface, never tempting fate. Or the boat tips over and the crisis begins.

There is another alternative, you know. It’s one we don’t usually think too much about because it’s not part of our own reality. We’ve seen pictures, and there are always people on TV enjoying that lifestyle. But it’s something that always seems beyond our reach, something that exists only for the fortunate few.

For them, success has an entirely different meaning. It means excitement. It means accomplishing new goals, one after another. It means travel. It means luxury. It means a house full of family and friends, enjoying the finest food as they lounge around the pool. It means taking on new challenges and always coming out on top. And it means leaving a legacy that can’t be bought with any amount of money.

So, what’s the difference between those people and the rest of us? It’s nothing more than the size of our dreams, and the lifestyle we’re willing to accept. I was the kid on the baseball team who was happy to stand in right field where nobody ever hits the ball as long as they let me wear the uniform. But Freddie Chadwick wasn’t happy unless he was hitting home runs. See the difference?

I don’t know how his life has turned out in comparison to my own, but back then there was a noticeable difference in our goals. And goals determine what we’re willing to accept – our level of comfort. We’ve discussed comfort before. It’s something we all struggle to achieve, but comfort can hold us back if we’re not careful. Sometimes, it’s healthy to be just a little uncomfortable.

My daughter’s cat is happy to look through the living room window because he’s never experienced anything on the other side. And I think a lot of us live our lives in a similar fashion. In fact, we’re taught to be happy with what we’ve got, that wanting anything more reflects some level of ingratitude. But it’s the desire for something better that brought us every modern convenience in life.

I hope you’re all happy with the life you’ve built, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay there for the next thirty or forty years. It’s okay to want something more, to dream of accomplishing even greater things or simply enjoying more of life’s luxuries. As long as we’re willing to work as hard as we dream, we’re deserving of anything we achieve. It’s all about the effort.

Every week, every day, we have a choice to make – we can accept a life that simply consists of getting from one day to the next without disaster, or work for something even better. There is no right or wrong answer – it’s personal for each of us. But if you’re not living at the level you desire, what’s holding you back? Dream big, and then go for the gusto. It’s out there waiting for you.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

© 2019 Dave Glardon – All rights reserved