Paradox of not being able to be really happy while being in comfort:

We are dying to be in comfort. Don’t we? First let’s be clear. We don’t necessarily mean relaxation or resting by mentioning comfort. Surely, we are all humans. We don’t have an infinite amount of energy and time. We can get tired, even exhausted time to time. Obviously, there is no problem taking our time off the task in hand. Actually, resting when we are in need is as much necessary as breathing. What we get wrong is that seeking comfort has to be our primal goal. Sadly, we feel like if comfort is non-existent in our lives, we would die out of uncertainty. Now, let’s face the reality. Where do we really find meaning? Comfort or discomfort? If we are honest to ourselves, our answer probably would be discomfort. Take our species as an example. If our ancestors didn’t decide to climb down from the trees approximately 4.2 million years or leave the caves around 100.000 years ago, would we be the people who we are today? Most likely we wouldn’t be. It is as if universe tells us in subtlest ways: “Go and conquer, my children. You may feel afraid, you may feel anxious and you may feel hesitant. But, also know that ultimately, there is nothing to be worried of. I always have your back.”

Let’s try to put ourselves in shoes of our ancestors. They were desperate. They felt like if they don’t do something, they will die. There were a few ways to go forward: Go back to the security blanket in the form of comfort, fight one another for advantage or go into an uncharted territory to escape danger. Do you think safety was the first choice of our ancestors? I don’t think so. There are several reasons for that. First and foremost, we had to record history as such. We are a storytelling species. We are good at reflecting and imagining. We are good storytellers. This is the reason for which we have survived until today. We didn’t have a lot of time to waste. We knew as well that without us passing on our knowledge through stories, we would die here and today. We only would be in the past for another species to remember. So, I think we get it. We know it’s our duty to go and achieve something. Wouldn’t it be great if we felt what our ancestors went through to go and conquer? Isn’t it possible to have this “existential headache” of our ancestors while still being in comfort? Yes, it is. But we don’t. Welcome to the paradox. It’s the species that go beyond the comfort zone.

We love to feel uneasy. We love to feel uncertain. There are times when we feel like – now, things are not so comfortable anymore. It fuels us and makes us go for the rare and incredible things required. It makes us go and make a statement. We think that having any type of “existential headache” teaches us more. It teaches us how to achieve things. At the very least, it allows us to admire our ancestors. It inspires us to do something out of the ordinary. It helps us experience the breadth of fears and at the very least, see how we overcome them in the end. If, on the other hand, we do take our comforted and secure world too seriously, we are going to have serious problems. The mission of our ancestors was to conquer and survive. We see the same mission now. We are surely living in a more civilized time. Nonetheless, we do want to live and conquer. Unfortunately, it’s starting to be more of a problem that in our comforted world we are discouraged to act and achieve together. If we don’t follow some kind of a system or technology and just like the way things are, we are considered an anomaly. We are judged and put in a box. If we try to experiment to find the best way to go and do it, we are still considered an anomaly. It doesn’t even matter if we achieve! We are discouraged in a thousand visible and hidden ways to go and achieve things in our comforted world. We are told to be happy, don’t worry, be happy! If, by any chance we do feel this necessity to go and do, we are judged in a million and one different ways. First and foremost, we are called crazy. Second, we are called “damaged people” who don’t even know what they want. Thirdly, we are called “unbalanced people”. We are analyzed like robots and questioned how we feel. Every little move of ours (or others) is questioned. It affects us. If, by any chance, we act on our purpose, then we are without a doubt, punished. We are accused of being selfish, unbalanced, crazy and so on. We are judged, without a doubt. It seems quite absurd, but it’s true. We are in danger of letting this affliction of modern society control us. The more we are comfortable, the more tyrannical we are. We are losing our freedom. For what reason? What is the purpose of the humanity? Is it possible to be happy when being in comfort? Don’t get me wrong. I am not in any way against comfort. If, by any chance we want to rest, we are free to do that. However, I do see a problem when we go beyond our comfort zone and then we are told that we shouldn’t go beyond the comfort zone. The ultimate paradox is the one where we feel left with no choice but to go and do what we are meant to do just to see how little time we get to appreciate “comfort”. This is the paradox of our comfort.