An Uncomfortable Place

The invitation (and the suggestion)

I had received my first invitation to sit on a panel during a women’s event. In my excitement, I shared the news with a colleague of mine. The first thing she said is “You should get some Spanx”. Did you read that? This woman didn’t say congratulations or good luck. Instead, she took it upon herself to say that I needed to get a shaping undergarment because (apparently) I really needed it. Listen, you can’t tell everybody everything!

Anyway, I soon found myself standing in a store looking at Spanx shapewear. Y’all Spanx is not cheap! But I was in luck! I looked to the right of the Spanx items and saw another shapewear brand. According to the packaging, this other brand did the same things as Spanx and it was half the price. A little foreshadowing here: you get what you pay for! Anyway, I purchased the ultimate all-over shaper and got ready for the event.

The Stairs

On the day of the event, I was ready to go (wearing my new shapewear) and feeling good.  All panelists needed to be seated on stage so I started walking towards the stage.  But when I tried to go up the stairs I realized something terrible: I could not lift up my leg! The all-over shaper I was wearing would not allow me to move!  Seriously, I couldn’t lift my leg up high enough to go up the stairs!  There were women in front of me who had already (very gracefully) entered the stage. It was my time so I took a deep breath and lifted up my leg in probably the most awkward leg raise I have ever done in my life and started walking.  There were 5 of them. Yes. 5. With every step, that shaper restricted the blood circulation to my thighs even more! I clearly looked crazy because the woman behind me gave me that “poor baby” look and asked me if I was OK. I couldn’t feel my left thigh! I was not OK!

Tilted to the left

I finally managed to get on the stage and went to my seat.  But there was another problem! The chair was lower than it appeared. And of course, that darn shaper made it difficult to bend – let alone sit!  So I took another deep breath and sat down, feeling my abs tighten, my bra tilt up to the left, and pressure in my right butt cheek! Once I sat down, I started to feel a little sick and I clearly looked like it because someone on stage offered me a bottle of water. I took a big gulp. Immediately, I regretted that gulp of water! It made my situation worse! Not only was my bra tilted up to the left, my abs were contracted, my left thigh was numb and my right butt cheek was throbbing, but now that water I just drank was literally sitting in my throat because I was struggling to swallow it! I tried to excuse myself to go to the bathroom so I could just take the darn thing off but the host of the event said we were starting soon and there was no time to go!

An Uncomfortable Place

We started the panel and I was more uncomfortable than I had ever been in my life! In my head, I told myself to just focus on people in the audience. I had to be intentional with my listening so that I could participate in the discussion. I had to shift my posture so I could sit without looking strange to attendees. When the time came for me to speak, I found myself praying with each question asking God for a specific and concise answer so I wouldn’t have to talk too long. The reality was that my discomfort caused me to shift everything I was used to doing! Everything I did was different than I normally would have done it.  In the end, the event was a success!

Learning from the uncomfortable

Listen, If you are in an uncomfortable place right now, I am here to give you hope!  Maybe you have been used to doing things one way and all of a sudden that isn’t working for you anymore.  Or maybe you have been placed in a position where you have to do something that you aren’t used to doing.  I am here to tell you that your uncomfortable place may be the catalyst to something better in your life!  So what do you do when you are in an uncomfortable place?

1. Embrace the shift. For some of us, we will continue doing what we always do as long as we are comfortable. If we never have a “crisis” or a sudden change we would never know how much more we could do. Our uncomfortable place can help us break free of our routine to accomplish something new. But only if we allow it to happen.
2. Recognize that God has already provided you with what you need to make it in through your uncomfortable place. I had created some talking points for myself in preparation for that panel discussion. However, my discomfort forced me to focus on the questions asked and rely on what God brought to my mind to say. Surprisingly, those answers were much better than what I wrote! You may not know how good you are at something until you are forced to do it!
3. Look for opportunities to focus on others. Part of what helped me forget how uncomfortable I was during the panel was focusing on the people asking questions. Somehow, interacting with those people made me forget my own discomfort. The more I gave, the more the discomfort I felt seemed to lessen. Sometimes, you are made uncomfortable so that you can help other people.  Your uncomfortable place may not be about you at all!

The bottom line is that if I never had that experience, I would have never known that I could do it. The uncomfortable place you are in right now can be a great opportunity for you.  Embrace the change!  You will be amazed at what happens at the end of it all. Oh, and while you are at it, stay away from the shapewear- it can be a dangerous thing. 🙂

*Note:  This post is an abridged version of a longer article originally published in Living With More Digital Magazine.  To subscribe to Living With More and find all the magazines form 2018, visit:  http://www.latricewilliams.com/living-with-more.html.