Would you rather feel disappointed or uncomfortable?

There have been a bunch of things that I've wanted for a while now, both personally and professionally. While I've definitely accomplished some of my goals, I find that there are several goals that remain to be reached. 

So I started to think about why I haven't yet achieved them. Why if I wanted something so badly have I not achieved it yet? And I discovered something very interesting after a considerable amount of time journaling and thinking through it all.

When you have goal and you know that it's something you definitely want, but you're finding that it continues to remain unreached, it's usually because of one reason.

You're avoiding feeling uncomfortable. Now when I say "uncomfortable" I'm not only referring to the kind of discomfort you feel when you're cramped in the middle seat on an airplane. 

Discomfort can show up in the form of physical pain, emotional distress, panic, social awkwardness, loneliness, sadness, anger. Essentially, anything that you don't want to be feeling.

I think many of us (myself included) would like to be able to get what we want in an easy breezy kinda way. While I don't believe that the "no pain, no gain" mantra applies to every situation, I think it can definitely apply to most. 

Let's talk about the word "pain" for a second though. Things are what we call them after all. It's all a matter of perspective. A computer crashing can be called a catastrophe or an opportunity to buy the new computer you've been eyeing for a while now. Life doesn't really operate in absolutes. As you choose which words to use to describe a situation, your reality is born. There is no set objective reality. It's all a matter of how we choose to perceive and understand what happens to us.

You say something is scary? It becomes scary. You say something is uncomfortable, it becomes uncomfortable. And then the likelihood of you doing it consistently lessens, because who wants to repeatedly move towards uncomfortable situations?

I don't know about you, but when I don't accomplish my goals, I'm disappointed, especially if I feel like I could have done more to see them through to reality. And the reason I didn't take more action is because I was avoiding feeling uncomfortable. I've missed yoga classes at 7am not because I don't want to go, but because staying in bed feels more comfortable. 

So would you rather feel uncomfortable or disappointed? Because when you make decisions that are you related to your goals, you'll probably feel one or the other. If we can shift our experience and understanding of "discomfort" maybe we can choose feeling uncomfortable more often. 

The way I see it is that it's all growing pains, which means that these feelings are part of the growing process. When we begin using new muscles, it hurts in the beginning. When we do something that we've never done before, it can feel scary. But will you left your temporary discomfort compromise your long-term growth? Don't deny yourself of getting what you want because of fear, discomfort or pain. Because while those feelings with subside, feeling disappointed about your goals that remain unreached will stay with you indefinitely.