O, Pioneers

O, Pioneers

We were talking the other day around the office about the supply and demand of the drug trade.  The conversation dove off into the demand side of the house.  We (first-world America), live in an era and place of near-constant comfort...and shockingly, for many, near-constant anxiety and depression.  They've even given a term to it "quiet deaths of despair."  In spite of our creature comforts, we convince ourselves we have it awful.  In terms of historical comparison...we've never had it better.  

You can even hire out your commuting cost
for the price of a lollipop these days.

Think for a minute about how much comfort we have at our fingers...every day.  Most of us live in continuous climate-controlled environments - cars, homes, offices, stores, movie theaters, etc - all have a thermostat on the wall to keep us comfortable.  Food and water - again, most of us have about any type and portion of food available, now with a click of an app delivered right to us.  Gone are the days of the hunter-gatherer warrior tribes where if you wanted a pizza you better pull out your bow and arrow and go pizza hunting.  Travel - similarly, we can get in reliable cars, planes, and trains, and go most anywhere on the planet relatively quickly and affordably.  Medicine - the same - almost any pill or procedure is available in just about any small town across the nation.  

I don't want to paint with too rosy of a brush, I get it, many people are struggling.  Period.  Having
worked in the first responder, military, and non-profit world...I get it...human life means struggling.  That said, "hard times make hard men, hard men make soft times, soft times make soft men, soft men make soft times."  When you think back to our parents, grandparents, and beyond, many of them rose to the occasion with hard times - depression, WWII, and many other obviously tough times.  When we say "it's never been harder," that's never been further from the truth than right now.  

Even camping is far from the 
discomforts of yesteryear.

Going back a few generations further to the pioneers (and certainly beyond that), holy cow, O Pioneers, we're spoiled and soft compared to that hardier stock that founded so much of our country.  For so many of them, survival was a daily struggle, a real, in-your-face, struggle to make it to the next day.  It was also a time when physical work was a necessity.  In one little way, chopping wood and heating with an inefficient fireplace in a small cabin compared to a commute to an office so I can pay to bump the thermostat or pull my Gortex coat out of the closet to stay warm today.  

At some point, like most things in life, perception and perspective can help you level-set your reality.  Clear back in the 1600's political philosopher, Thomas Hobbes described life as, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."  Even back then he went on to discuss how to get out of that situation.  His counterpart, John Locke viewed it more around the natural rights of "life, liberty, and property."  If you view life soundly in one of those camps some 400 years later, that's probably how life will go for you.  I've not got the rose-colored glasses on so soundly that I'm telling you that you can "believe" your way out of poverty, abuse, illness...but I am telling you that's the absolutely necessary first step.

Watching the
rodeo with some
young pioneers.

Back to where we started, the demand side of drug use, immersion in video games/social media/screens, or whatever else takes you out of your reality.  Ask yourself, very objectively, what's so awful, terrible, no-good, very bad about your life that you've got to run away from it?  Chances are when you break it down, for most people, it's a "comparison is the thief of joy" situation.  We've probably got it just fine...but when we look left and right (down the streets of social media), we suddenly convince ourselves that we've got it terrible...we don't have six new cars, a condo in Vail, a lear jet waiting for us, or a harem of trophy wife/husband types in a closet down the hall.  

If you wallow in that, you'll find exactly what you're looking for.  If instead, you embrace your inner pioneer spirit and set your eyes on the horizon of where you're trying to get to...you'll probably do it.  Before you whine about how hard life is today...think about how many ways it's easier than it's ever been to be a human on Earth.  Embrace those blessings and comforts...and realize they're relatively modern conveniences.  Change your perspective and live a happier life.  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• List out three ways that you've got comfort.  Say out loud that you're grateful for those things.  Believe it.  Act like it.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Ask your family (around the dinner table or at the next family meeting) to describe how they are comfortable (or not)?  Discuss stories of your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. 
• Pick one thing that you're going to inject that brings discomfort (cold showers, no TV, no eating out, something)...and a new perspective.  Embrace that for a month and see how you feel when you're done with the month.  
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action)

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Get comfortable being uncomfortable - Ted Talk with Bella Watters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4sy1Aq6euI 

- Blessings by Laura Story - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQan9L3yXjc 

- Tony Robbins - https://www.tonyrobbins.com/limiting-beliefs-guide/get-comfortable-being-uncomfortable/