I was sitting in my office enjoying the beautiful sunshine, the sounds of all the birds nesting nearby, the rustle of the wind through the soon-to-be-tall grass in the hills behind our home and the radio.

Once in a while I like to put the radio on to catch up on the weather and local activities.

Interrupting the music was a commercial about summer heat. The thought was that summer was due to arrive soon enough and, instead of being hot, the listeners could rush out and get a great deal on an air conditioner. I’ve used air conditioners in my lifetime, I’ve liked them too. They’ve provided some relief on many a hot, muggy, no wind evening.

You know the ones, when you’re trying to sleep and it’s just too damn hot, so you twist and turn and wake up groggy and grumpy. Yup, not such a bad thing those air conditioners.

But, wait a minute: what about the notion of being uncomfortable?

Have we become a nation that’s “not comfortable with uncomfortable”? You know I’m beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, we (the collective we) are being coerced into believing that it’s not okay to be uncomfortable.

Stand in line? No way I want it now.

Food taking too long to prepare? I’ll go buy it, it’s faster.

Health issues? Reactive or pro-active? Meds or self-care? Which is faster and easier? Oh yeah baby pass me that pill and it’ll make it all go away.

Difficult discussions? Nope, we’d rather switch than fight for our beliefs, unless of course there’s a big army standing behind us.

Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry? We’ve got a solution to fix that stuff too. What happened to the days when you just dealt with the stuff you were handed? What about the old days of sitting on a front porch sipping a mint julep and chilling in the shade? What about the days of just saying “oh forget this day we’re going to the beach?”

What’s wrong with feeling a little uncomfortable? Doesn’t it make us stronger, more tolerant? More awake?

I’m just tossing it out there folks. Thoughts?

Living la vida fearless,

Jan