Have you dug a hole in the sand on a beautiful beach?  You dig and dig but feel you are getting nowhere? Sand falls back in your hole, or a wave comes in and fills it back up.  This cycle is repeated over and over until you do something different.  This analogy can be applied to your health and fitness journey.  Are you digging and digging repeatedly and feel you are getting nowhere? The answer is in your discomfort. You need to choose your level of discomfort for growth. 

We all have dug that hole in the sand.  What example can you relate with? Have you ever:

• Started strong on a new walking routine to have totally quit 30 days later?
• Threw away all the junky snacks in the house and then stopped at the convenience store for more a week later?
• Reduced your screen time for a couple of nights and then gave up doing different things to go right back to the screens?

The changes in these three examples are not easy to accomplish.  You start them with good intentions and then fall off track.  The question seems to be, how much discomfort are you willing to endure to really make the changes you want?  Here is an example.  A gal wants to get healthy so she can be more fit and active to keep up with her young children.  She wants to make changes in her activity level.  Here are some changes she might consider:

• Walk around the field when her kids are at practice instead of waiting in the car
• Enjoy the park activities with her children
• Add 15 minuets of movement to build her strength before the kids get up or after they go to bed

Of course, these changes are hard!  Change is hard for all of us since our natural reaction is to resist change.

The 2 discomfort choices are:

• Does she choose to continue with her current routine and be uncomfortable as she tries to keep up with her children?
• Does she choose to endure the discomfort of these changes so she can be the active mom she has always dreamed of?

In other words, does the pain of establishing new fitness habits outweigh the pain of staying the same?  Both options are uncomfortable.  Will you pick the discomfort that helps you grow, or will you choose the discomfort that does not help you grow?

One must choose their level of discomfort for growth. There is opportunity for change when you embrace your discomfort.