Embracing Uncomfortable: Facing Our Fears While Pursuing Our Purpose

by Deborah E Gorton, PhD, Gary Chapman (Foreword by)

Overview

The truth is—we’re hardwired to seek comfort, but comfort usually doesn't move us in the right direction.

Every day we face a thousand choices between what is best and what is easier. And most of the time, we’ll choose what’s easier, which is why we so often feel frustrated, anxious, and disconnected. But when you learn to embrace the uncomfortable as the gateway to better things, everything changes. Embracing Uncomfortable teaches you how to

• Recognize what you need to do to find purpose and joy
• Develop the courage to radically accept your situation as it is
• Have the courage to do what it takes to move forward

You’ll learn practical skills to help you pursue and fulfill your purpose, like “practicing the pause” and “balancing your emotions.” Discover the freedom and joy that will fill your life when you begin to see discomfort as an important step toward reaching your goals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802419569
Publisher:	Moody Publishers
Publication date:	06/02/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,032,280
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

DEBORAH GORTON (B.A. Arizona State University; M.A., Ph.D. Fuller Theological Seminary) is the Gary Chapman Chair of Marriage, Family Ministry, and Therapy at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School. For more than fourteen years Deb has worked as a change agent for individuals, organizations, and emerging leaders, helping them refine, embrace, and thrive in their purpose. Built on the foundation of relationship, her core philosophy is that collaboration in community produces radical transformation. She resides in Chicago and loves the Cubs. If she's not home in the city or traveling for work, you're likely to find her with family in Colorado, Oregon, or Oklahoma.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Introduction 11

1 The Comfort Myth 15

2 Driving After What's Important 33

3 The Power to Choose 49

4 The Nuts and Bolts: Your Purpose, Your Values 65

5 The Disciplined Pursuit of Pausing in a World Full of "Go" 85

6 Radical Acceptance 99

7 Balancing Feelings and Facts 113

8 Justification, Minimization, and Denial 127

9 Conquering the "Failure" Lie … and Other Battles 149

10 The Closing Chapter-Keep the Door Open 161

Afterword: Still Sitting Up! 177

Acknowledgments 181

Notes 183

About the Author 185

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Embracing Uncomfortable 

When someone is able to make complicated topics simple, I always listen! And that’s exactly what Dr. Deb does. Not only does she walk us through what she knows, she lives out her words and that’s more important to me than any knowledge she possess. I’m so excited for this book to get into the world!
—Bianca Juarez Olthoff
Teacher, preacher, and bestselling author of How to Have Your Life Not Suck

Why is it so easy to get knocked off course and so hard to say “no” to the things that keep us there? Enter this incredible book. Perhaps the best book I’ve read, period, to powerfully guide someone out of the easy places and choices that get us nowhere. And to guide us instead through the “uncomfortable” places. The ones that really can bring genuine change toward what we really want and need most in life. Life is hard. This book can show you how to quit making it harder and actually reach those places of purpose, happiness, and rest you thought were out of reach.
—John Trent
President, StrongFamilies.com; author of LifeMapping and coauthor of The Blessing

Some messages come to us too late, others may come too early. In these pages is a message right on time. You cannot overcome what you are unwilling to encounter. Just how to do that is the gift Dr. Gorton bequests to us in this expertly written narrative Embracing Uncomfortable. Read it and rejoice.
—Charlie Dates
Senior Pastor, Progressive Baptist Church, Chicago; affiliate professor, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

If you want to wake up every morning with a sense of purpose, you have to live ON purpose. Being intentional in that way means truly knowing what your purpose is. Deb Gorton is here to help with that!
—Anita Phillips, LCSW-C
Founder, Turn the Light On Movement

Even though we may know God has a plan and purpose for our lives, many of us will forgo our purpose in order to remain in our comfort zone. In Embracing Uncomfortable, Deb Gorton invites us to push beyond our fears. She helps us to discover what is keeping us from our purpose and provides us with realistic solutions that will move us into our purpose zones. This book equips us with the tools we need to make our daily pursuit of purpose our lifestyle.
—Kim Anthony
Author, speaker, host of the Unfavorable Odds podcast