Comfort is the antithesis of a life worth living. In its simplest terms, a life absorbed by comfort is a life not worth living.
When we look at our past experiences that have positively shaped who we are and that continue to provide the greatest memories, it is the endeavors into uncertainty and discomfort that can be credited.
While enjoyment is certainly a necessary component of life, it is not what we should set our sights on attaining. Enjoyment should come as a side effect of the products of venturing into discomfort as frequently as we can handle.
To illustrate, bring to mind the prototypical example of two children: one given everything it ever wants, and one whose life is filled with uncertainty around even the most basics of life, like where its next meal will come from. The inherent hunger and drive that is produced in the latter case can not be taught in theory, only learned by experience. On the contrary, the child given everything without correlation to effort will have less perseverance and determination in difficult times.
In the same way that we wouldn’t intentionally try to comfort a child in every area of its life, knowing that challenges will become more difficult down the road, we should try to challenge ourselves to push beyond the limits of our personal comfort and consistently force growth like a muscle.
When we accustomate ourselves to this, difficult problems become easier and life itself becomes more meaningful. Solving challenging problem after challenging problem instead of wasting away in mindless consumption.
A life of discomfort will not always be easy, but it will most certainly be worth it.