The modern world is built around convenience. The goal of life seems to be to remove as much friction as possible from every facet of our day.
Who could deny that life is more tolerable and pleasant in many ways?
There is a downside lurking behind so much ease.
When life gets easier, the remaining inconveniences feel more painful. As our expectations rise higher, we become less content with ordinary existence and its occasionally awkward, slow, and inefficient realities.
The central problem is that our digital world can remove friction to such an extreme degree that the physical world can never compare. Life online will continue to feel easier and more appealing than life in the “real world.”
I worry these conveniences will make us complacent and lazy in the long run—leaving us unwilling to pursue the hard but meaningful things that give life its deeper meaning.
6 Less Convenient Paths to a Better Life
I push back against complacency by intentionally exposing myself to harder real-life things in small doses. I view it as training my mind and spirit to be resilient in the face of reality and better able to handle inconveniences when they inevitably arise. Here are a few examples of what has helped so far:
1. Reading Books Instead of Brief, Online Content
I find it ridiculously easy to scroll on my phone and consume content, losing an hour without realizing it. I came to recognize that I felt worse after spending that time on my phone, especially compared with the calm contentment I experience after reading a few chapters of a good book. Reading a book takes more effort, as the material unfolds at a slower pace, but I’m rewarded with a richer experience that makes me feel more positive about life.
2. Walking to the Grocery Store for Light Shopping
We live about a 10- to 15-minute walk from our local grocery store, so walking adds a significant amount of time to the trip. In our car-centric world, hardly anyone would put up with the inconvenience of walking. However, I find something satisfying about walking with a purpose and the gentle strain of carrying groceries back to our home. That small feeling of accomplishment goes missing when everything is effortless. We’ve made life easier but more boring by treating things as chores rather than as part of life.
3. Solving Boredom With Action Instead of Consumption
Boredom is one bit of friction that has been nearly banished from reality. Instead of experiencing even a hint of boredom, we reach for the quickest, most instant sources of stimulation we can find. This tradeoff has lowered both the peaks and valleys of everyday life by acting as a general-purpose numbing agent. Try facing your boredom full-on: Resolve to do something instead of passively consuming, and your world will slowly expand with new opportunities.
4. Walking Every Morning, No Matter the Weather
Despite our many technological achievements, we have not yet solved the problem of the weather. No matter where you live, I’m sure you experience unpleasant weather. Many people spend most of their time in temperature-controlled buildings or vehicles, rarely exposing themselves to the ancient forces of sun, wind, rain, and snow. However, being outside is good for us and makes us appreciate the luxuries of indoor heat and air conditioning. Allowing ourselves to occasionally sweat or shiver adds texture to our lives and helps us escape the bland sameness of life indoors.
5. Raising 5 Children Together With My Wife
One of the grandest challenges and adventures of my life has been deciding to grow a large family with my wife. We’ve recently had our fifth, and likely final, child. For anyone who has been a parent themselves, I hardly need to explain the emotional highs and lows of the path we’ve chosen—one that is hard but more satisfying than anything else I’ve done with my life. Although travel is now harder than it is for many of our peers, we feel that this “difficulty” has made life better for us than any other way we could have invested our time.
6. Making Small Talk With Strangers I Meet at Church
By nature, I like spending time with people, but that doesn’t always carry over to strangers. Talking with people I don’t know takes a level of effort that my convenient life doesn’t always prepare me for. However, each Sunday when I arrive at church, I try to push myself to greet the people around me and talk with those I don’t know as well. Through this effort, my life has been enriched by new friendships in the past year that I never would have expected at this busy stage of my life.
Like anyone else, I’ve come to enjoy the many conveniences in my life, and I’m grateful for them. The vast majority of the time, I choose the easiest, most convenient path, not the hard one. Although deep down, I know that thriving is about more than an easy life—it’s about choosing which difficulties you’re willing to endure for a greater prize. Sometimes it’s good to introduce a bit of friction back into your life, just to remind yourself not to grow too comfortable in this world of conveniences.