I’ve had a toothache since last Thursday. It started off as more of an annoyance. Like, “Gee, my wisdom tooth is hurting.” It’s an impacted wisdom tooth that has broken through the gums over the years. And, over the years, my dentists have said, “Someday, you’ll need to have that removed.” Right. Someday. In the past, this particular tooth has had some occasional pain. A pain that usually lasts for a few hours at the most. Then it goes away and I’m comfortable again. This time, however, the pain hasn’t gone away and I’m very uncomfortable. I haven’t eaten properly, because it hurts. It even hurts to laugh. I haven’t done the work I should have been doing. It’s become a pain that is all I think about.
Aren’t many of us just like this, though? We will accept pain just because it’s easier to stay in our “comfort zone” than it is to address the cause of the pain and make changes to our lives. Some of us stay in jobs or debt or relationships that are painful to us. They rob us of joy. They suck the life out of us. We become catatonic and merely exist on a day to day level. Oh, sure, some people will talk about how miserable they are and how they really are going to make a change. But that negative talk becomes like a badge of honor to them. You know people like this. When you say, “Hey, how’s it going?” They respond with all of the troubles of their life and how busy they are. And they will tell you the same story, maybe with slight variations, every time you see them. You can be assured that they are in their comfort zone and probably aren’t going to make any real, lasting changes until the pain becomes literally unbearable.
Here’s another similar version of the story with the same point: A man is walking down the street when he passes by a hound dog sitting on a porch just howling a sad, pitiful howl. The man stops to look at the dog and asks his owner, who is sitting by in a rocking chair, “Why is your dog howling like that?” The dog’s owner says “He’s howlin’ cause he’s sitting on a nail.” “Well, why doesn’t he move?” asks the man. “Because he’s just too darn comfortable,” replies the owner.
As we bring the idea of the Money Merge Account™ System to our friends and neighbors, we are going to run into people who are in a great deal of pain because of the debt in their lives. Some of them will tell us of their pain, others will be too proud to admit it. Many are stuck in a comfort zone that they are just too afraid to leave, despite the pain. Sometimes we may want to relieve our friend’s pain more than they want the relief. We simply need to be their friend and show them what possibilities really exist. Begin showing them how much discomfort they have learned to accept. Show them that they can live outside of the “norm” of bondage (debt) and slavery (wage jobs) through this powerful program.
John Janecek
PS. My wisdom tooth is being extracted Monday morning at 10 am. 
gif.gif "Save up to 90% or more on NEW ITEMS!")
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
John, this is a GREAT article! You have hit it on the head! I, too, had FOUR impacted wisdom teeth which I put off for 2 years before finally having them removed. I heard the other day on a video from Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring that people make decisions and act based on one main thing - the desire to avoid pain or acquire pleasure. If people say “no”, it’s because the perceived pleasure they would gain does not outweigh the perceived pain or moving outside their comfort zone.
My take on it is that once the pain gets to be too much (as in your wisdom tooth example), then the balance shifts, and it’s MORE painful to stay in your comfort zone than to go through the pain of having the tooth removed. The same thing happens with clients as we talk with them. If they have a strong enough “why”, they will see that the benefits of working with the Money Merge Account is worth making the effort to learn new ways of doing things. Human nature is an interesting thing, isn’t it?
March 25th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Yes, yes, yes, Pamela. That’s it, exactly! There seems to definitely be a tipping point that we all have to approach before we will do what needs to be done. Human nature is, indeed, interesting.
Thanks for the excellent comment and feedback.
John.
PS. Ended up having both lower wisdom teeth extracted yesterday. :-/