Ready Vs. Comfortable

My niece, Hannah, just released an album of her heartfelt and deeply vulnerable (and in my opinion, brilliant) work.

To put one’s work and self out there in the world takes courage at any age, but at 17, it takes something more.

Hannah was walking through fear, not because she was comfortable with opening her heart, soul and talent for the world to experience, but because she was ready.

The distinction between being ready and being comfortable is a crucial one for us to understand and practice.

But only if we want to actually create transformation and not just consume information.

Transformation requires action.

Action requires readiness.

And ready is a decision — not a feeling.

Most of us are waiting to become comfortable before we make a decision. The truth is — Captain Comfort is not coming to save us.

Considering that the latin root of the word decision — cis or cid — literally means “to cut” or “to kill”, I propose the following for your consideration:

We will always be in discomfort when making a decision because it’s not in our nature to feel comfortable when we are cutting or killing anything, even an option.

And it’s almost always our fear of choosing one option over another that keeps us in the purgatory of indecision — that place our goals and desires go to grow old and die.

Jewish grandmothers are famously wise and love to start most advice with, “Where is it written that…..?”

It’s a nod to the Torah and the propensity to use it as a literal guidebook for life.

When I was a kid and would complain to my grandmother that today I wasn’t happy — she would say …

“Where is it written that you’re supposed to be happy all the time?”

And so I ask you …

“Where is it written that you’re supposed to be comfortable all the time?”