Embrace the Suck

Life is not easy. Whether we like it or not we will go through minor and major challenges that may cause a whirlwind of emotions. The beauty of these challenges is that they help with character growth and development. Whether you face the challenge with a positive or a negative mindset the challenge will still be there. Allowing negative emotions to flood through your mind is not going to make whatever challenge lies before you go away. The only way to make the hardship disappear is to embrace it and overcome it. It is much easier to embrace sucky situations with a positive mindset. God will only give you what you can handle. If you ever think to yourself “I can’t”, just know God is up above saying “you can”.

I had the amazing opportunity this summer to attend Army Air Assault School. It was both physically and mentally challenging. Our instructors would make us run and do various exercises such as pushups and flutter kicks on the gravel. As we got tired and slacked off the instructors made us do more. Whenever I caught myself dwelling on the pain and struggle, I reminded myself that this was only making me stronger. The Lord knows I want to be the best soldier I can be, so he put this challenge in my path to make me physically and mentally stronger. When I switched my perspective to a positive growth mindset, the challenges got easier. I chose to embrace the suck. In doing this I was able to realize the hardships I was facing at Air Assault were only brining me closer to my end goal of being the best soldier I can be. I remember looking to my left and right to see the other Air Assault students going through the same pain. This allowed me to look at the big picture. How lucky am I to be going through this experience. How lucky am I to have a healthy body capable of taking on physical challenges. How lucky am I to go through this experience with so many cool soldiers by my side. How lucky am I to have been given advice from experiences other soldiers have been through. I had a blast at Air Assault, because I embraced the hardships and helped those around me to embrace it with me. I got yelled at twice for smiling too much because I was having so much fun.

There are times when life is just going to suck. Dwelling on the suck is not going to make it any better. Shift your mindset and remember whatever hardship you are going through is not going to last forever. You will not only overcome the challenge but grow and level up your character.