Embracing Discomfort: Lessons From a Black and Blue Toe
The Forge & Freedom journey has been full of challenges, but none as oddly memorable as the side quest that left me with a subungual hematoma, a fancy way of saying a smashed, black and blue toenail.
It all started with the cold plunge side quest. I walked into the water with my Crocs still on, trying to avoid the rocks and seaweed at the bottom. For a second, I had to laugh at myself. The whole point of this practice is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, to lean into the things we normally avoid. So I kicked off the Crocs and waded in barefoot, letting myself feel the slimy seaweed, the sharp rocks, and the shock of cold. That little reminder to embrace the uncomfortable clicked in.
Unfortunately, in the process of embracing it, I must have smashed my toe off a rock. I didn’t even notice until later that afternoon when we set off for a family hike. As I laced up my boot at the trailhead, I looked down and saw my big toe already turning a deep shade of black and blue.
It wasn’t a long hike, just a short out and back I’d done countless times before, but the pain made every step uphill feel heavy. Still, I knew the views would be spectacular autumn foliage painting the mountains like a bowl of fruity pebbles and my family was excited. So I pushed on.
And here’s the thing: by the time we reached the summit, the pain faded into the background. The colors, the crisp air, the joy of being there together completely overshadowed the throbbing in my toe. For that moment, discomfort was replaced by awe and gratitude.
The descent, however, was a whole different story. Every step downhill drove my toe into the front of my boot like needles. Anyone who’s hiked knows your big toe is what helps grip rocks and stabilize your footing it takes the brunt of the pressure. I’ve done high peaks five times this distance with far less pain. This short 1.5 mile trail was somehow the hardest.
But here’s the real takeaway. pain and discomfort don’t always have to be the enemy. With each breath, I reminded myself to embrace it, to find gratitude just for being able to hike at all, to be present with my family in the mountains. That shift in mindset carried me through to the end.
Sometimes it’s not the long, epic journeys that test us most it’s the small ones, paired with unexpected obstacles, that teach us how to truly sit with discomfort and keep moving anyway.
