HANDLING "SEEKING COMFORT" IN A WAY THAT WORKS
OTHERWISE, WE COULD BE LED ASTRAY FROM WHAT WE REALLY WANT
In my primitive mind, lying at the center of simplicity and functionality, is the urge to seek "functional balance". ]One of the most important strategies in life overall is to be adept at noticing when we are 'dysfunctioning' and then returning to efficient functioning - what is called seeking homeostasis. Anything less than having homeostasis compels the body/mind to emit 'discomfort' ('get in gear!') signals. Of course - that is part of why we have survived!]
The urge is compelling, as it is based on survival, not some intellectual concept.
However, we have the intelligence to work with the given mechanical system in order to get more of the results we want. We, as has been proven over and over, can't override the system (often metaphorically called the elephant) by trying to overpower it physically or with mental force. We must "train" the elephant and reward it - convincing it that survival is not at risk. Know, and honor, the fact that the greatest, most brutal force comes from the need to survive - and if that is perceived as being highly threatened, there is no chance of denying its power. We can address it in the moment, but it must be in a way that works, not in an attempt at force.
First, of course, we must understand what we are dealing with and how it works.
But, then, we must devise a bridge from that understanding linking us to the other side, and the purpose of it all: results. That bridge always involves specifics from an overall strategy right down to the steps it takes for implementation.
There's alot of thinking involved here, so few of us really address it fully.
For right now, understanding the "working" of it involves acknowledging that I am simply experiencing a mechanical reaction to a perception that there is something out of whack (not in homeostasis). It's a chemical - one that doesn't feel good, which means it is "uncomfortable."
What will offset that chemical, or state of feeling.
How much discomfort is uncomfortable? Don't we have discomfort if we are exerting ourselves to play a sport? But we don't call it discomfort. Why is that? Because we are focused on something else, like 'playing', and because we do not put a valence (negative, positive value) on it that is in the negative range - instead, it is good, it feels good, it is just incidental and a minor part of it all, even unnoticed.
