Embrace the suck.

It’s a military phrase, origin unknown.

Slightly more polite, unlike the NSFW “FUBAR” and “SNAFU”.

My personal favorite in that genre has long been “BUFF,” an Air Force-ism describing the B-52 Stratofortress.

Halfway through a round of burpees, I wasn’t thinking about airplanes or the acronyms service members have used to describe ineffective leadership.

I was just wanting to get done.

So I slowed down.

Didn’t squat as deep.

Raised my arms a little less.

Took a little more time to get down in the pushup position.

The coach running the session, I’ll call him Satan’s Stepbrother, saw me.

Made eye contact on the next round of my trying to remember what lungs do.

“Don’t cheat yourself!”

Asshole.

Wasn’t wrong.

Most of us, when it sucks, just want to get to the other side.

Seeing only the destination.

And ignoring what we’re learning on the journey.

By doing that, we cheat ourselves.

Instead, we need to embrace the suck.

Find out what the pain has to teach us.

The ride is the education, not the end.