A Mindset Lesson From Bison: Face the Storm
Sep 07, 2023
Most herd animals, when a storm approaches, either huddle together or move away from it. Bison do something different, they turn to face the storm directly and walk straight through it. It turns out to be the faster path to the other side, even though it looks, at first glance, like the more difficult choice.
The Human Equivalent
A lot of energy goes into avoiding discomfort rather than moving through it. Negative emotions get pushed down or distracted away from rather than actually felt. Author and coach Brooke Castillo has described how this pattern can extend even further, entire lives sometimes get structured around minimizing negativity: staying agreeable, avoiding conflict, not drawing attention, staying small, being "good," being "right." Safety, in this framing, comes from avoidance rather than genuine engagement.
The Irony of Avoidance
Avoiding the discomfort of fear, potential humiliation, or the unfamiliarity of something new doesn't actually produce the peace it seems to promise. It tends to produce a different set of negative experiences instead:
- Boredom
- Restlessness
- A persistent sense of purposelessness
- Shame
- A lack of genuine self-knowledge
- Despair
- Ongoing disappointment
- Never actually discovering real capability
A Direct Question Worth Asking
What's actually being gained by avoiding the difficult conversation that needs to happen? By staying in a situation that's genuinely toxic? By leaving old wounds unaddressed rather than actually working through them? By avoiding new experiences out of caution? Is that avoidance genuinely serving anything, or is it simply trading one form of discomfort for another, quieter, more prolonged one?
Turning to Face It
Sometimes the fastest way through a difficult situation really is turning directly toward it rather than continuing to circle around it. If a particular "storm", a decision, a conversation, a pattern, has been lingering unaddressed for a long time, that avoidance itself tends to become its own separate source of exhaustion, on top of whatever the original difficulty actually was.
Discomfort as a Signal, Not Just an Obstacle
The discomfort itself is often not simply something to be endured or avoided, it can function as a genuine signal that a change in direction is actually needed. Continuing to run from it doesn't resolve the underlying issue; it just delays the eventual reckoning while adding the ongoing cost of avoidance on top.
The Bottom Line
Facing discomfort directly, rather than circling around it indefinitely, tends to be the faster and ultimately less costly path, even though it looks like the harder choice in the moment. The avoidance itself often produces more prolonged suffering than the discomfort it was meant to prevent.
FAQ
Why do bison walk into a storm instead of away from it? Moving directly through a storm reduces the total time spent in adverse conditions compared to trying to move away from or around it, making it the more efficient strategy despite appearing more difficult at first.
How does avoiding discomfort actually create more suffering? Avoidance tends to produce its own negative experiences over time, boredom, restlessness, shame, a lack of genuine self-knowledge, often outweighing the discomfort that was being avoided in the first place.
How can someone tell if discomfort is a signal to change direction versus something to simply push through? Persistent, recurring discomfort tied to a specific unresolved situation, a relationship, a decision, an old pattern, is often a signal worth examining directly, rather than discomfort tied to a genuinely new but worthwhile experience, which may simply need to be moved through.
What's a practical first step toward "facing the storm" rather than avoiding it? Identifying the specific difficult conversation, decision, or situation being avoided, and taking one concrete step toward addressing it directly, tends to be more effective than waiting for the discomfort to resolve on its own.
