It takes a certain amount of discomfort to make changes. Last week I wrote about the frog staying in the increasingly hot pot of water. The frog can’t jump out of the pot if there is no awareness of how hot the water is and then it is too late. 

I have a friend who told me about her experience leaving an abusive relationship. She had jumped out of the pot but then was convinced to jump back in — ‘The water will be cooler this time, I promise’. Well, the water was as hot as ever. The very day she moved back in, she started planning to leave again. This time she was an older, wiser frog and steadfastly refused to enter that particular pot again. 

In his autobiography Life, Keith Richards describes lying on the floor under a bench in a nightclub feeling absolutely miserable. He was waiting for his dealer to show up and he needed his fix badly. In that moment he recognized his miserable circumstances, and he thought, “I should be leading the life of a rock star”. (Such beautiful irony.) He made some choices and made some changes.

In both of these examples, the discomfort happened over time. My friend’s relationship started out with two people in love. Keith’s addiction probably seemed fun and harmless at first.

We all have our ‘pots’ that we sit in. The temperature can be lukewarm or on the boil. At what point does the discomfort motivate change? And who or what is in control of the water temperature? Ourselves? Someone else? Circumstances? (This is a trick question. It’s always ourselves.)

Admittedly I am feeling pretty comfortable right now. I’m not dealing with an addiction or in an abusive relationship.

But. (There’s always a but.)

The name of this blog is Contentment is for Cows. I do not want to be either a frog in a pot, or a contented cow. I’m facing the question ‘Okay, now what?’ and it’s making me a little uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable enough for changes? We’ll see. I’ll have to choose.

Stay safe everyone.

Anne Milne is an every Sunday blogger.  Facebook or Twitter.