Seeking Discomfort

In 2019 I spent an amazing week in Portugal. It was eye opening to visit a different culture and see what their lifestyle is like. The streets were cobblestoned and very hilly. Houses consisted of buildings stacked together that were very narrow and multiple stories high so you would have to climb stairs to get to each room of the house. I couldn’t help but wonder how an older adult with mobility issues would walk around the city or even their home.  It rained when we were there and I saw four people slip and fall walking through the city. These were younger people, under the age of 40 falling while trying to walk on the hilly, cobblestone roads in the rain.  I heard from fellow travelers that a woman fell on slippery wet floors in the train station and got a laceration to her head and was bleeding.  If young people were falling, how do the older adult fare in the city? Unlike in America, there are no signs  in the building warning of slippery floors. I saw one older lady make her way up a cobblestone street with her cane. I couldn’t help but think this is what she’s used to and has adapted to and maybe it’s helped her maintain some stability.

There’s clearly not any ADA mandates to make buildings and streets handicap accessible.  There also seems to be no effort to have aids for stairs or caution signs for slippery areas.  This forces people to just deal with it, to go up stairs, deal with the slick, hilly and bumpy terrain. That’s normal for them.  Here in America we have “Slippery When Wet” signs, we have ramps, and wide smooth sidewalks so it’s easy to get around. Buildings have to accomodate those with mobility issues and there are elevators or escalators to help with stairs. There are chair lifts that elderly people can install in their homes so they don’t have to take the stairs. We make it easy. But what if we’re making it too easy? I don’t know that these things exist in Portugal. If all these aids area available for those with mobility issues there’s no reason for them to deal with stairs. or unstable surfaces and they never get exposed to that challenge.  I would argue it’s doing more harm than good.

One day we got coffee for “take away” (aka “to go”). We had our small paper cups of coffee and set out to walk Porto and noticed our hands were burning holding the cups because it was so hot. There was no cardboard sleeves to put over the coffee to make it more comfortable to hold. One more way we try to try make things comfortable in America.

In the airport I noticed that the seats were wood and not cushy. This got me thinking to about other countries and cultures and ways they may experience  what we would think of as uncomfortable and make an effort to avoid. In Japan people sit on the floor for their meals. This is not something people in America would typically choose to do, even for a picnic-there’s tables and benches available. Interestingly, one of the things they can test for longevity is someone’s ability to get off the floor . We even have special lounge chairs that will hoist you up from sitting so you don’t have to use your leg muscles to get up. Maybe this is making life too cushy.

Many cultures and religions practice fasting which is uncomfortable and takes discipline. In America food is plentiful and we have snacks and promote eating multiple meals a day. We’ve coined the term “Hangry” where you’re so hungry you’re angry. The thought of going without food seems intolerable to most Americans. What if we just deal with being hungry and not try to feed ourselves constantly just because we can?

Maybe the lifestyles of other cultures are making the people more resilient, stronger, and physically able to handle challenging situations and environments. Our culture may be able to benefit by bringing some discomfort into our lives.  This could be sitting on the floor for a meal, going out in cold weather, not eating for 24 hours, walk up the big flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator. Practicing small ways to bring discomfort into life could help toughen us up.  What areas of your lifestyle can you invite in some discomfort?