Embrace the suck.

I recently finished the book High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brandon Burchard. You would love this book if you are a GOAL DIGGER like me obsessed with growing personally. Although there were many things that I took away from the book, there was one line that caught my attention and stuck with me enough to write a blog post about it. That line was:

Embrace the suck.

This book has NOTHING to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. However after reading this sentence, I immediately highlighted it on my kindle and thought about how extremely fitting it was for our current quarantined/social distancing lifestyle. To put it simply, it SUCKS! People are dying, people are mourning, people are suffering, people are losing their jobs, people are being kept from their elderly family, people are struggling with mental health. Moreover, in addition to all of that suckiness, us teachers are expected and TRYING OUR BEST to navigate online teaching and everything that goes along with that. It’s ROUGH!

This line however made me think. It made me think…if we are LUCKY enough and so fortunate to be ALIVE right now, why don’t we just EMBRACE it?! Why don’t we embrace the suck? Why don’t we embrace this time home that has been gifted to us? You may be thinking, how can we possibly embrace the suck? Well, here are some ideas!

Reconnect with old FRIENDS! – Something (oddly) comforting about this pandemic is that EVERYONE is affected by it…even Kim Kardashian…and A-Rod…and Jimmy Fallon…and the Jonas Brothers. Therefore, it’s the perfect time to text that one person or people you might have lost touch with. Chances are, they are sitting in their house working from home (unless they are a first responder/essential worker) just like you, so just GO FOR IT! Don’t know what to say? Well, you can start by talking about something you both have in common, the pandemic!
Try something NEW! – Did you want to try making something new for breakfast, but was always rushing out the door? Did you want to start up a new hobby, but just never had the time? Well, I dare you to TRY IT! By not having to commute to work or get ready to leave the house, for example, we are gaining some extra time within our days. So why don’t we use it for something that will enrich our souls! Some ideas are: Read for fun, listen to a Podcast, cook or bake, try a new exercise routine, play an instrument, crochet, start up an etsy shop, craft, etc. When in doubt, head over to Google and do a quick search!
Host a VIRTUAL game night! – Get your friends together and hang-out virtually! How awesome is it that we can use technology to still BE with other?! Some things you can do are: Hangout and play games using the House Party app!, play games such as “Never have I ever…” or “Would you rather…? (You can Google to find lists of questions!), share your screen on zoom and play Scattergories! You can find an online version here.
GET BACK into something you stopped! – Have you ever started a project and then just stopped because life got in the way? (HELLO LOCA LANGUAGE TEACHER BLOG!) I’m the queen of that! I will start a project and then reality hits with work and school and I wonder why I thought I had time for the project to begin with. Well, this is the perfect time to get back into it! It’s never too late!
JUST RELAX! – You can 100% embrace the suck by simply RELAXING! Embrace the time home by just laying on your couch or however you enjoy to relax. I think it’s a common misconception that we should use this time home to do all the things because we should take advantage of this time (I feel this sometimes!). But, maybe this suckiness is reminding us that life is short and if FINALLY getting a chance to relax is something you want and need to do, I say go for it!