Embrace the suck

I love this saying. It’s a common military phrase that I learned from my husband Todd. I can’t tell you how many times he and I uttered this phrase over the past several weeks while preparing for our move to Bend, Oregon. 

Moving sucks. Period. 

Although in the end, once the movers arrived to pack and transport our life from California to Oregon, things could not have gone more smoothly, there were some frustrations and hiccups—one of which more than doubled the cost of the move and wasted about three weeks of Todd’s time. 

One day when I was feeling particularly beaten down by the process and prospect of moving, I remembered the last two lines of my favorite quote from Harvey Mackay: 

“… Nobody said life would be easy.
They just promised it would be worth it.” 

Then, as so often happens, I received the shift in perspective I needed right when I needed it most. In a message from a dear friend, she said, “… enjoy this next unfolding.” 

That’s when it dawned on me. That’s how I can embrace the suck—with faith and trust. Faith that this move, though not easy, would be worth it; and trusting that as this part of the journey unfolded, I was receiving exactly the experiences I need to achieve my dream. 

Because the Universe likes to underscore its message (at least that’s always how it seems to work for me), this timely reminder floated across my Facebook feed:

"Be proud of every step you take toward reaching your goal."

Taken together, these messages really helped me to focus less on the drudgery and unpleasantness of moving and to instead celebrate that I was moving one step closer to my goal.

How do you embrace the suck?