Effort Over Comfort

Making your dream come true requires work but it also requires quieting the distractions.

The other day, I saw this post on social media that said, "One day, you'll realize that your dream died because you chose comfort over effort."

And I couldn't help but think, "This applies to me 10000%."

Want to know the best way to get to that dream and not let it die? Get rid of everything that distracts you. 

This is essentially the basic tenet of minimalism anyway. If it's non-essential, if it's unused, if it's clogging up your life, and most importantly, if it's keeping you from doing the thing you're supposed to be doing, then you have to get rid of it.

When I chose to embrace minimalism, it kicked me into minimalism in all, and I mean all, areas of my life. From home, and all that encompasses, to my kids' lives, my life, and work.

When I got rid of things that weren't pertinent or essential, focused on what I loved, and intentionally chose the activities to do and the things in my home, my life changed. I was free to pursue my dream. 

When I made minimal everything around me,  the clouds parted giving the sun a chance to shine on the things that truly meant something.

It was like pointing a giant magnifying glass at my dream and saying, "Here! This is what you need to do."

In other words, the comfort factor of obtaining stuff and doing dreamless activities disappeared when I let go of "stuff" (or work and things I didn't need to do) and made my life as authentically me as possible.

I'm working on a middle-grade work of fiction that I began twenty, yes twenty, years ago. I rewrote it twice and shelved it twice. Now, I've written many other things (and a book), including several other books that may or may not ever see the light of day. 

But this one book concept -this dream of an idea makes me wake up every day now and say "I have, have, have to write this before I die!" The dream came back to life.

Why? Because I've omitted the unnecessary parts of my life (the overstuffed house, jobs I didn't love, social media wasting my time) to focus on the necessary parts. I have to write this book.

Comfort over effort (maximalism consumerism and distraction) or effort of comfort (minimalist gratitude and focus)?

It's up to us to choose what we want every day, otherwise this world will decide for us.

What have you put on the back burner because you've insisted on comfort? The dream is still there. As long as you're alive, it's never too late to change and redirect your life to complete that dream.