The Brotherhood of the Sweatpants

One of the beautiful things about the way we’re made is that we can quickly and easily do things on auto-pilot.  We become creatures of habit, and the routine tasks we face each day are often performed with little to no thought.  Have you ever noticed that you put the same leg into your pants every time?  Try putting the other leg in first tomorrow and you’ll probably find the task a bit more challenging.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this.  It’s good that we don’t have to allocate a large percentage of our brain power to mundane things, but the danger is that if we never move out of the “no brainer” areas in our lives, then we will forever become members of The Brotherhood of the Sweatpants.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think sweatpants are awesome and can even think of some times when they’d be a fantastic choice for pants wear.  After a long run on a cold winter morning, there’s nothing more comfortable than a nice, warm pair of sweats.  I would imagine (since I’m a dude that’s all I can do) that if I was, say, on the verge of delivery after 9 months of pregnancy, a pair of XXXXL sweatpants would be quite nice, especially if they came with personnel who would wait on me hand and foot until the birth.

So, this isn’t a rant on how we never need to wear sweatpants.  It’s a rant about how we don’t need to always wear sweatpants.

(Surely you’ve been to Wal-Mart and seen the proof of why that last statement is true, but if not, exhibit A is on your left. You can click it for a larger image, but why? It ain’t gonna get any better.)

As the B99 and I were talking this morning, we discussed the tendency we all have to fall back into what’s become comfortable for us.  Given the choice, I’d say most people would always opt for the relaxed and comfortable over what feels, well, the opposite of that.  And therein lies the problem, and the clue to why so many of us have stopped growing in our faith, our careers, our relationships.

Growth isn’t comfortable.  It isn’t like pulling on that favorite pair of velour sweats.  It’s like putting on a pair of brand new, “just pulled the tags off and they’re really stiff” jeans.  You don’t feel like you can even bend your knees in them, and immediately you start to devise some way to “dress up” your trusty old sweats for that meeting that you’ve got down at the cafe later.

We’ve all seen The Brotherhood, and we don’t want to join them. We don’t want to be in the group that walks around in public proudly dressed to communicate to the entire world that they’ve quit caring. No, let us be in the group that wants to grow, mature, and be better today than we were yesterday.  You and I will form the society that values the hard work of the soul in order that we might establish a whole new level of comfort, a place where we can perform on auto-pilot the tasks that today feel like work.

And it all starts by slipping out of something comfortable.

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