How do you do something that seems impossible?
What if I asked you to place the tip of an arrow in the tender hollow of your throat and the other end of the arrow against the wall, and without using your hands push on the arrow until it broke. What if I told you this could be done without any injury to yourself. You would be forgiven for thinking that I was crazy, or just plain wrong.
And yet a few months ago I was helping supervise a group of young people attending a workshop. The topic? Breaking arrows with your throat.
It sounds a bit bizarre but it was an incredible, insightful experience for me.
The presenter explained what we were going to do and demonstrated it too. She then coached one brave young person through it before letting them all have a try. Everyone that tried, broke their arrow and got to keep it as a memento. After the young people had their turns and had moved onto to another workshop I went up to say thank you. I was thrilled when I was asked if I would like to have a go.
I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen it done, so knew it was possible. But could I do it?
To this day I will remember the feeling of pressure on my throat – pressure not pain. It was uncomfortable. I had to keep pushing despite the discomfort until the arrow suddenly bent and broke!
I was elated. I had done it.
A few weeks later I was thinking about the experience and realised that there was a great lesson for me in that broken arrow. The lesson was this –
The impossible becomes possible, when I am comfortable with the uncomfortable.
So many times in my life I have stopped doing something when it got uncomfortable or difficult. In that moment I realised that one simple key to accomplishing things that, at first glance, might seem impossible is to push through discomfort – to sit with the discomfort until it feels normal and then keep pushing.
Whether it is running a marathon, or simply being able to touch your toes; speaking in public, or talking to the stranger next to you on the bus, so much of the worthwhile achievements in life will require us to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
The amazing thing about most humans is that as we do that our circle of comfort expands and new horizons come into view.
That arrow now hangs on my wall with those words. A constant reminder to me to push through discomfort and achieve the seemingly impossible.
What discomfort is keeping you from being who you were meant to be or doing what you want to do? Start today and practice being comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Don’t fight it.
Just let it be.
Breath.
Accept how you feel.
You will find that over time you will achieve the seemingly impossible.