The Stoics deliberately practiced discomfort, eating plain food, feeling cold, going without, so that hardship would lose its power to frighten them. The idea wasn't to suffer for its own sake. It was to learn, in small doses, that you can handle more than you fear. When you choose a little discomfort on a calm day, you're training for the days you don't choose. Take the cold end of the shower, skip the thing you reach for out of habit, sit with a small craving instead of feeding it instantly. Each time, you prove to yourself that comfort isn't a need. That's a quiet kind of strength.

Inspired by the old idea of voluntary discomfort. Written by Ugo Charles.