Words that Never Leave You: “How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable?”
Part Forty-One in an ongoing series from Hollie's book "Words That Never Leave You: Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World."
My tender toes bled through the cotton-wool wraps as my tiny teen body rose onto pointe, twirling across the unpolished wooden floor in a small, musty-smelling ballet studio on the fringes of Rome in what seemed like the ten thousandth time that day. Depleted, I stopped. The pianist stopped. A slew of sculpted faces lacquered in sweat turned my way with arched eyebrows. The ballet master we only called “Signore” folded his arms and stared with a dramatic pause into my wide eyes. His subsequent question would be my mantra for seeking challenging and new horizons.
“How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable?” he asked, seemingly rhetorically. “Because that defines who breaks through and who does not. Nothing remarkable comes from comfort.”
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** Short read of meaningful lessons gleaned from the ordinary forced to become extraordinary
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