Dr. Tim's Blog 
by Dr. Tim Uhl
june 6: discomfort
Last Sunday I found myself in a very scary situation. I was out in the middle of a lake, out of breath, hyperventilating, with my chest tightening. This wasn’t a nightmare, I was competing in a triathlon. I was ready to quit 5 minutes in! It didn’t make sense to me at the time. After all, I swim three times in the comfy confines of UB’s Alumni Arena pool with my master’s team. I was wearing a wet suit, I was surrounded by lots of people, and I had trained for this. But I couldn’t stop gasping for air! It was frustrating, lonely, and more than bit anxiety-ridden.
After a few minutes of breaststroke and freestyle with my head out of the water, I was able to settle my breathing down enough to continue. I kept up the self talk (“this will make a good story” or “this will make the finish worth it” or “this makes absolutely no sense”) until I started believing that I was going to get through it. Spoiler alert—I didn’t drown. I finished the swim and the triathlon. Yes, the time was slower than I was hoping for. But I couldn’t shake the experience of being really uncomfortable (if not downright afraid).
Many of us spend our lives trying to avoid discomfort. Part of it is growing old and comfortable, part of it is materialism, I suppose. As my children enter adolescence, I am reminded (daily!) of the role of discomfort in growing up. Our young people not only have to do hard things like study and practice, they take on challenges that adults simply wouldn’t want to do. Add to that the social media dimension and the lives of our young people involve many more encounters with the uncomfortable.
But growth can occur with discomfort. See this article referencing people’s growth in public speaking. This discomfort might cause us to expand our zone of proximal development. Either way, I’m scheduling more open water swims so can be better prepared for the next triathlon.
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