Discomfort Now or Misery Later?
by Vin Miller
When faced with a challenge, whether good or bad, many people have a long list of excuses why they don’t fully dedicate themselves to overcoming it. While the need to make changes may seem unpleasant or overwhelming, the long term consequences of not doing so are often far worse. There are few things that this applies to more so than your health.
Regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs, you only have one chance to make the best of the life you’re currently living. If you fail to address the many challenges that modern life poses to our health, you may find yourself physically or mentally incapable of living the type of life that you’d like to live. In short, you have the choice of dealing with discomfort now or increasing your chances of having to endure misery later.
Why You Should Think Like a World Class Athlete
Many of the world’s best athletes talk about their determination and how they do everything they can each day to improve themselves. They’re willing to overcome the immediate discomfort of training in favor of avoiding the misery of performing poorly when it matters most. They also realize that overcoming the temporary discomfort of training will greatly increase their chances of enjoying the fulfilling experience of accomplishment. Instead of a gold medal, the goal you’re training for is the good health that will allow you to more thoroughly enjoy every moment of your life.
I pride myself on being very determined, and in regard to my tennis game, I’d much rather experience the discomfort of training in the gym than the disappointment of performing poorly on the court. In fact, this incentive can even make the discomfort of training pleasurable, and it’s something that I apply to all aspects of my life, especially my health. I’m motivated to be disciplined with my lifestyle choices because I know it will result in a better quality of life that’s characterized by higher levels of energy, mental clarity, and emotional stability. For me, the fatigue, irritability, and depression that often results from unhealthy habits simply isn’t worth the temporary and superficial enjoyment that indulgence or laziness may bring.
You have the choice right now to stop making excuses and start addressing your health related challenges. Having the determination to do so can very easily be the difference between living a vibrant and happy life and succumbing to illness and regret.
Will You Be a Statistic?
Most experts agree that many of today’s most prevalent and debilitating health conditions are very much related to lifestyle choices. Some of the more obvious examples include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, lupus, thyroid disease, and multiple sclerosis. These conditions weren’t nearly as common just a century ago as they are today, and if you read the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, you’ll see that the primitive cultures he studied were virtually free of these illnesses and enjoyed vibrant health. Where did we go wrong?
Over the course of just a few generations, the quality of our food has become significantly worse and the amount of stress, chemical toxins, and electromagnetic radiation that we’re continuously exposed to has dramatically increased. These factors have become such common aspects of modern life that the thought of living any other way seems drastic and uncomfortable. For example, it should be obvious that natural whole foods are the best source of nutrition, and the people who realize this and live by it typically have vibrant health to show for it. However, many people instead opt for the ease and comfort of continuing to eat unhealthy processed foods that are high in sugar and contain potentially harmful chemicals. When they encounter poor health, many of them will be quick to blame their genetics or other factors that are out of their control instead of taking accountability for themselves and considering their negligence as a possible cause.
Embracing change and living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t guarantee happiness or the avoidance of disease, but it greatly improves the odds. Even if you do encounter poor health despite your efforts to live a healthy lifestyle, you can at least spare yourself from regret by knowing that you did your best and that without your effort, your health may have declined sooner and more severely. Besides, by already knowing what it takes to implement healthy habits, you’d be in a better position to regain good health. No matter how you look at it, taking good care of yourself puts you in a better position to get the most out of your life.
Even Blindness and Amputation isn’t Enough to Motivate Some People
Type 2 diabetes is a common disease that is very much related to lifestyle choices. It can often be reversed or easily kept under control by minimizing the consumption of foods that are high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, or starch. Failure to properly control diabetes can lead to kidney failure, blindness, and amputation, but the prospect of making significant dietary changes is so undesirable or overwhelming to some people that they’d rather not do it. Instead, they’d prefer to risk losing their eyesight or their feet in favor of avoiding the discomfort of change.
How to Overcome the Discomfort of Change
In most cases, change is not nearly as difficult or painful as it’s originally perceived to be, and if it’s a change worth making, the benefits will often outweigh the difficulty by a significant margin. One of the most common reasons why change seems so difficult is the panic of not knowing what to do or how to do it. Fortunately, the solution to this is simple. Read! It can truly change your life. Chances are that many people have been through the same challenges that you’re experiencing and have taken the time to write about it. By taking advantage of this opportunity to learn from others, you’ll acquire the knowledge you need to take action, and once you do, the prospect of change will seem much less daunting. In fact, you may even come to enjoy the challenge.
Even with the appropriate knowledge, change can still be intimidating, especially if it’s one that will require a lot of work. One of the best ways to alleviate this is to break it up into smaller steps and pursue only one change at a time. Make the change as simple and easy as you need it to be, and once it becomes a routine and thoughtless part of your life, move on to the next one.
Most importantly, you need to have a strong source of motivation. Without this, there’s little hope. If the changes you’re looking to make are associated with something that you value deeply, then motivation will come more naturally. However, sometimes it takes a bit of creative thinking to make this connection. For example, it wasn’t until he realized that he could use his athletic ability to help others that Andre Agassi fully dedicated himself to tennis. For me, simply knowing that I want to be mentally sharp and physically active well into my old age is more than enough. It also helps that I’ve experienced what poor health is like and want no part of experiencing it again. I’ve come to realize that optimal health maximizes my enjoyment of life, and this is something I’m not willing to sacrifice.
Perhaps you don’t understand yourself well enough to know what truly inspires you, or perhaps you simply take your health for granted and don’t realize what you’re missing. Given today’s poor standard of “normal” health, nearly everyone has room to improve their lives by improving their health, and you at least owe it to yourself to try.
For more information on living a healthy lifestyle, sign up for my free course 7 Simple Steps to a Leaner, Happier and Healthier You.
Post this on Twitter
Post this on Facebook
Support this on StumbleUpon
Email this to friends
Leave a comment
I am in a state now where I am crafting a strategy based on what I have learnt to improve the perspective and health of my family. It can be discomforting at times but deep inside my heart I feel very comfortable. I belive my subconscious is doing everything it can to break that obstacle 9worth breaking), that I don’t need to doubt it.
Many just don’t know their enemy. Many want a quick fix because it is so difficult at first sight mostly because they say a bundle of excuses such as time is not at their side. So, many are blind that they cannot peek beyond the superficial layer, so that they can see the core. Result: resort to very short term comfort. But they do not realize until a debilitating disease warns them eventually that they are going against what they want in the first place: I need to be healthy.
To go beyond that superficial layer you need to think of possibilities, instead of saying you can’t. Reading with common sense can take you to a world of possibilities you can never imagine. Result: You get healthy, using long sighted methods such as realizing the result you want is worth the discomfort. So you must make a plan of attack (strategy), while planning loosely.
I see that people need focus more on possiblities. It very refreshing for me to think of strategies using what I know now. While undertaking it, uncertainty needs to taken into account.
A lot of obstacles may be found along they way but with the appropriate perspective you can break all of them effortlessly. Enjoy the process and you’ll get what you want as your reward. so I see that they are impatient to go through the process.
As I wrote all my past comments, I can imagine how uncomfortable it is to write your articles, but you recognize that it is worth it because you care about us.
Nice stuff here. Only thing that I would like to mention is that the discomfort is only for initial period. After you get into a schedule, it becomes more of a challenge.
You look forward to it.
The post is eye opener and still there are many who will not follow the advise because it is coming from a Blog and is free of cost. If some one will have to pay a health consultant or a physical trainer at a gym will probably follow the advise. Attend seminars and/or lectures.
Nowadays, it’s the daily routine which is not allowing many people to exercise or meditate. Though they know if they don’t act now it will create health issues in the near future. The answer is correct “nobody wants to change”.
I was facing overweight issues and half hour of exercise in a daily routine, packing my lunch a night before and making healthy food and kept it refrigerated so that it will last a little longer. I chose to Change and I have lost weight and I feel better about it.
Thoughtful Post!!!
Cheers,
Cheryl Paris Blog
Nice addition to this article!
Informative and well-written piece as usual, Vin. Thanks.
Very well said Vin,
At 58 the benefits of a healthy life course is becoming very, very clear to me. Many who ridiculed, or made fun of my healthy choices in the past are now in a position were they are being forced to reevaluate. Don’t get me wrong, I have made mistakes along the way. But all my life I have done my best to make healthy choices and now it is paying off big time.
When my peers talk about being old, I can’t relate. While they see nothing but limits and doctor visits, I am planning to achieve the best shape of my life by 60. At some point age becomes more a matter of condition than years of life. I’s more physiological than chronological. There are still some adjustments to make as time passes, but they are minor and manageable instead of debilitating.
I chose to find pleasure in the minor discomfort of training and healthy eating. It’s one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only do I not go to the doctor, I don’t even have one. But then again, I have never eaten at McDonald’s in my adult life. Think there’s a connection?
Thanks for an excellent and insightful article Vin.
Thanks, Jonathan!
You’ve so clearly described one of the primary reasons why I go out of my way to live a healthy life and why everyone else should as well. I even see people in their 30s allowing themselves to be limited by their health. To a lot of people, this is normal aging, and it’s a perspective that I find to be extremely disappointing.
I’m happy to hear that you can relate to the perspective of transforming the minor discomfort into pleasure. It’s so much easier to succeed when healthy habits become a motivating force in their own right, and it makes the entire process much more satisfying.
HI Vin,
At 44 I have suffered with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia for over 10 years and often the pain is truly debilitating. About a month ago I finally got so sick of “living” this way and the endless round of doctors that I struck out on my own to change my diet completely to see if THAT would make any difference. Although I thought that my diet was relatively healthy, I was shocked at how much hidden sugar and processed foods I was really eating. ALL that is gone now! I eat unlimited fresh greens and fruits, a cup of beans/day, an ounce or so of almonds or walnuts, freshly ground flaxseed, TONS of water, as well as green and ginger tea (decaf). I have no dairy or grains yet (I can’t believe that I am not craving THOSE). I have also eliminated all animal fats. I am going to gradually add some of these back into my diet (I made a lean ground hamburger b/c I was craving it so badly yesterday). I am already beginning to feel more alert, heathy, and in less pain enabling to now take short walks up and down the street. A big bonus is that I have lost 16 pounds!
Question: I am taking L-Carnitine, co-Q 10, three-lac, and some pro-digestive enzymes. Any thoughts on their benefits? Any recommendations? I still am on Lyrica, darvocet (for pain), klonopin (anti-seizure), a low-dose antidepressant and bc pills for menopause. BUT I have already eliminated my cholesterol meds and hope that as my health improves I will be off more meds!
Here’s to great health and a NEW life!
Sandra
Hi Sandra, thanks for sharing your progress. It’s truly great to hear! My story is similar, and shortly after I decided to attack the problem by doing whatever I could to implement healthier lifestyle habits, it became much easier to keep up with the normal pace of daily life. Although I had less margin for error than most of the people around me and had to be much more careful about what I ate and how I chose to use the limited energy I had, it was well worth it. Now I feel like I’m better off than most of the people I was once trying to catch up to, and in addition to the tremendous improvements it has made to my life, it’s something that I’m very proud of. If you’re not already at this point, I hope you get there soon. It’s really amazing what you can accomplish by making smarter choices each day and I’m thrilled to hear how you’ve embraced this.
I don’t have a strong opinion either way about the supplements except perhaps the digestive enzymes which I think are important. If these supplements are working for you, then it makes sense to stick with them. Once you feel stable, which you may already, then may choose to experiment by eliminating one at a time to see if it makes a difference. The nutrients you’re supplementing with can also be obtained from a well rounded diet that includes meat, fish, and fermented foods which is the type of approach that I tend to prefer. Since the probiotics and digestive enzymes are meant to improve your digestive health rather than being a source of nutrients, I think they’re particularly important from a general health point of view.