Discomfort Makes Us Stronger

I fixed my own HVAC unit today, and I was so proud—comically proud.

A post I shared with friends …

It's the small things in life.

HVAC dude told me we needed a new capacitor for our 30+-year-old unit in the attic. Cost? He said they had to order it, then it'd be another trip out, and … $300 or so. I asked him to text a picture of the part to me and sent him on his way.

$11.83 from Amazon, ten minutes of trial and error, and … I replaced it myself. Following that, my wife suffered through another ten minutes of her husband strutting around like a peacock in front of her. One can't put a price on the resulting feigned swoons and platitudes interrupted only by smirks and eyerolls. :)

Not all of us are confident enough to open up some random household appliance and replace a part, or fix a car, or neuter a ram, or repair a hole in a pair of jeans, or gut a fish, or cook lasagna for twelve, or karaoke that song we barely remember. We each negotiate varying levels of comfort for every unfamiliar task we take on, hampered by the limits of our knowledge. But humans are also an innovative species. We are, after all, the naked ape—the very clever naked ape.

I already got the diagnosis from the HVAC professional during one of his biannual checks. It's prudent to hire an expert to keep an eye on things. The aging system checked out okay for now, but we needed to replace a failing part. Surely, I could do that, right? I stuck out my chest (to draw attention away from the belly) and loudly huzzahed, "Let me at it!"

We got the part in the mail and … One would think, I'd wait until fall to risk having an HVAC system offline? Not a chance! Okay, maybe it wasn't the wisest choice for me to choose a day when the high was set to hit 98°F. But that's what I did.

It took me longer to get the tools together (socket wrench and pliers) than to actually swap out the part itself: Tools. Shut down the HVAC system. Take panels off until I could see the part. Remove the part. Replace with new part. Close it all back up. Turn on the HVAC system. Rub dirt on forehead for show. Brag to wife that her man did man things. Wife very generously strokes husband's ego for a bit.

We both had a laugh over how small things like these make us feel, at least for the moment, capable of anything. Humorous, but it is also something I often think about. That we need to, as humans, reach outside of what is familiar and tackle something we normally would not. Saving money was the motivator in this case, but sometimes we do a thing to prove to ourselves that we can. Or to learn a small skill. Or … Whatever. Sure, I could have damaged a very expensive thing. But I did get an assurance from the HVAC guy this task wasn't rocket science.

And so, though I may have made fun of myself for getting my hands dirty with a task 99.999% of folks would have hired someone else to do, I think these experiences are important. We need to reach outside of our realm of expertise from time to time. It helps us grow as human beings. It gives us confidence in our own capabilities. Plus, you just never know what you are really going to enjoy until you tinker. That person who today loves to handcraft rocking chairs started their journey somewhere far more humble. They started with some experiment outside of their expertise, one that may have succeeded or failed—one that ignited something in them to keep traveling down that road.

Reach outside of your comfort zone and find your new you. And, don't be shy; strut a little bit.