"The love between us fire and ice. It's loss and it's redemption. It's pain and it's comfort. It's everything." - Callie Hart
If like attracts like, but opposites attract and being uncomfortable is the catalyst to change than how on earth do we ever find connection with our hearts, our partners, our passions, or our purpose? It seems these concepts all oppose one another, yet maybe there is a complementary train of thought there as well.
In yoga it is found that like attracts like. That when we choose what practice we do, it is usually only those practices that make us feel really good, or may even seem easy. We love to sweat, so always take a hot class. We love to slow down and relax, so only sign me up for yin or restorative (a slow hatha in a pinch). I am high energy, so I can only handle hot, power vinyasa please. My teacher told a story of his dream yoga event in which the class calendar would be misleading. If I as a high energy type am drawn to vinyasa, I would sign up for the vinyasa class, but after all had arrived, the room would be sealed and bolsters and blankets would rain down upon us and a restorative practice would ensue. Ha! How would you feel? Or the opposite, you are drawn to a restorative class, and after everyone arrived, the doors were sealed and you were forced to move to a hot, vinyasa class instead. What a shock to the system of preferences! I laughed out loud when I heard that story. Would you lean against the wall and refuse to practice, or would you embrace the challenge and learn to grow from the experience?
Challenge or discomfort is the only way to shake us out of our habitual patterning. When we are comfortable, why would we change? Why would we try new things? Why would we meet new people? I love my habits. So much so, that I have discovered a pattern of lethargy, apathy, and tiredness in my day to day life. I opened to a backbend practice these last couple of days, and wowie have I felt different! Even the physical discomfort of my eyes (sense of inflammation, overuse, tiredness) has lifted by about 90%. Apparently it is time for me to move out of the camp of "like attracts like", and shift into the land of opposites, and discover ways to create discomfort (or lean into the discomfort already there).
So embrace what you like. Settle into those rituals that bring joy, comfort and ease, but every so often (maybe even daily), seek your opposite, or those experiences that create some discomfort. Maybe that's just brushing your teeth with your opposite hand, or taking a different road to where ever your day is leading you. Enjoy what you like, but challenge your habits as you spread spread your wings more fully into your next phase of evolution.