Avoiding the Unfamiliar

I did it! I finally purchased a universal remote. You see, 5 years ago our remote control disappeared and ever since we have had to stand up and walk to the television to make adjustments. What stopped us from buying a new remote control years ago? Good question. I suppose I avoided it for so long because I thought it would take too much work to figure out what kind of remote to buy. I was anxious about the time it would take to program it and did not want to think about adding a pricey gadget like a remote control to our budget. Frankly, I was avoiding doing a task that I greatly disliked. I told myself it would take too much time, be too expensive, too stressful. Alas, the buttons on our TV stopped working. Our choices were as follows: stop watching TV (my kids would revolt), buy a new TV or buy a new remote control. So, we headed to Target dreading the unknown...

Wow. I was wrong. It took me one minute -just one- to program the remote, and it was a whopping $8. I cringe when I think of all the time we wasted walking back and forth to the TV and the subtle anxiety about the expense and work it would take to source and program the remote. I'm happy to say that I'm not quite as avoidant most of the time. Oh technology, you hold a special place in my heart. The reality of the situation did not match my preconceived notion. This is often true for most of us in many areas of life. But there's good news. The more we engage in unfamiliar or uncomfortable activities that can be beneficial for our lives - like learning conversation skills to have a more productive conversation with a loved one or practicing patience - the more likely we are to continue to move toward the unfamiliar. We learn that maybe our worries about a situation were excessive when compared to our actual experience. So, what’s one thing you can do today to move towards growth even if it's uncomfortable?