Comfort vs Complacency
- Dr. Robert Gerard
- Jan 3
- 4 min read
There is a significant difference between comfort and complacency. With comfort, we are in our zone, and we know it. That awareness brings us safety and peacefulness in the moment. Whereas complacency is subconscious, it’s like existing in a limbo of what our actions and feelings have been. So, complacency generally means being satisfied with what we’ve done in the past without striving for the future. It’s being stagnant. It doesn’t propel us to create, so complacency sets in; it lacks creativity.
So, the most important thing to realize is that we all want to be comfortable. We want to be peaceful and safe, but we have to know that in every moment. What brings us comfort in the moment is the creative process, and with that creative process, you become stronger. Our future becomes more viable. When going back into complacency, we start taking things for granted. We fail to show gratitude, return to limbo, and think everything around us is fine. It is not.
Complacency, in a sense, is a form of ignorance. When we fail to be aware of our environment, vital things essential to us slip away, and we become unhinged and not actively engaged in life. I constantly remind my readership that we are Co-creators, who don’t have the luxury of not creating unless we’re complacent.
Permit me to offer a dramatic comparison between complacency and comfort. Back in 1983, I began a draft manuscript for my book, Lady from Atlantis. In the story plot, I spoke about the American electorate, i.e., its population, who became so satisfied with how America progressed economically, has excellent higher education, the science, the digital world, medicine, biology, manufacturing, and social diversity. In the book, I projected that the American population would become so complacent and ignorant of its political environment that the foundation of Democracy would begin to crumble. So basically, 50 years later, that complacent attitude propelled the demise of Democracy—the Great American Dream—of integrity, diversity, justice, and peace to catastrophic levels. Do we get the point? When we’re complacent, we don’t know what’s really happening. We let go of the right to transparency and participation. We permitted the world to move beyond us; we permitted political chaos to enter our beautiful American home. It’s here now.
Let’s give another example: The COVID-19 fiasco. To some extent, it could have been prevented. But the political agenda at the time, under the Trump administration in 2020, led to the closure of the Department of Pandemic Prevention within the US government. Not long after that, the pandemic struck, and our government failed to understand it or act promptly. That form of complacency caused the death of over 1,000,000 people, mostly minorities and the elderly. That’s not a benefit of complacency; that’s the travesty of complacency.
So, let’s move on to comfort. I love comfort. Comfort to me means to be healthy, safe, financially secure, and peaceful. Knowing that there are people out there that I love to serve and who respect what I do. That’s comfort. I strive to be comfortable—every day of my life—which means exercising and staying fit, eating healthy, nurturing body, mind, and spirit.
So, at my age, I can do some of the things like my grandkids do, like hiking, biking, swimming, and playing sports; that’s comforting to know. I must be aware that my body has different agendas than my flamboyant childhood mind wants, and not be complacent to sit in front of the TV too much. That means I must think and eat wisely: that’s a must. In a nutshell, to maintain a comfortable life, we should sustain a good attitude. I’m very comfortable with a good attitude, and that’s a great feeling, which drives awareness. Awareness of maintaining comfort is an ongoing task critical to our survival. It’s also vital for our families’ survival, our community’s survival, our nation’s survival, and the whole world’s survival.
I hope I’ve teased you a little. But that’s what I do. It’s an honor to be comfortable with God’s plan and your Free Will to keep creating what comforts you. It’s thrilling to know that you are one with the Universe. When I am comfortable, I have time on my side. Thinking about and feeling comfortable in my everyday creations is my job.
I hope, from this day forward, that we show gratitude for being comfortable and for the opportunity to remain so, to consider being comfortable as a daily practice that enables us to master our lives. Maybe it is time we take a shovel, bury complacency, and grow an apple tree. Which, if I recall, is what Adam and Eve had, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—comfort vs complacency. Did our Archetypal Grandparents decide to trade their heavenly complacency to practice Free Will and enjoy the comfort of their creations?
Dr. Robert V. Gerard
Copyright © 2025 Robert V Gerard
Newsletter: lifeawareness.substact.com
Article 853 words [2 Jan 2026 ]
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