9 Reasons Why Happy People Don’t Seek Comfort

1. Your brain can’t differentiate “good” from “bad,” it only knows “comfortable” and “uncomfortable.” This is a pretty raw example, but it’s the reason why criminals never think their actions are “wrong,” they think they’re justifiable. It’s why we do things we objectively know are bad for us, and confuse them for “feeling good.”

2. You don’t want what you want, you want what you’ve known. We are literally incapable of predicting an outcome that is out of the realm of what we’ve known prior. So rather than trying to seek “better,” we seek “the best of what we’ve known,” even if “the best” is really just the solution to a problem we didn’t need to re-create again.

3. “Familiar discomfort” feels the same as “comfort.” Which is why so many people are stuck in “ruts,” or absolutely do not want to change even though they know it’s what would be best for them.

4. There’s no such thing as true security. We seek comfort believing that it makes us safe, but we live in a world in which there is no such thing as true security. Our bodies were made to evolve, our physical items are temporary and can be lost and broken, etc. To combat this, we seek comfort, rather than accepting the transitory nature of life.

5. The only way you grow is by stepping into the unknown. It’s why so many people have “breakdown before breakthrough” moments. Often, their lives are leading them to better possibilities than they thought possible, they just didn’t know it was “good” at the time.

6. Most people don’t change until not changing is the less comfortable option. But there’s usually a long period of time of increasing discomfort before “not changing” is the worst case scenario. The Universe whispers until it screams, and happy people listen while the call is still quiet.

7. There are two mindsets people tend to have: explorer or settler. Our society has a “settler” mindset, our end goals are “finalizing” (home, marriage, career, etc.) in a world that was made for evolution, in selves that do nothing but grow and expand and change. People with “explorer” mindsets are able to actually enjoy what they have, and experience it fully, because they are inherently unattached.

8. There’s no such thing as real comfort, there’s only the idea of what’s safe. This one is a big one to swallow, but there’s really no such thing as “comfort,” which is why comfortable things don’t last, and why the best adjusted people are most “comfortable” in “discomfort.” Comfortable is just an idea. You choose what you want to base yours on.

9. Life isn’t about being “certain,” it’s about trying anyway. Comfort is, essentially, certainty. You can either choose to be certain about what you’ve known, or certain that you’ll make the best of whatever happens (guess who has a better time?) Because nobody is ever really certain. The people who have lives they love try anyway.