Here’s a principle I’ve been sharing for the last couple years, ever since a Navy Seal friend of mine shared it with me.

Sometimes things suck.

Sometimes we’re in pain. Sometimes we’re disappointed. Sometimes, the coffee’s too cold or the traffic’s too heavy. Sometimes our anxiety looms large and we’re convinced it’ll kill us.

Or, if you’re a Navy Seal, sometimes you have to run two miles with a wounded comrade on your back and a bullet in your leg.

These things suck. There’s no way to pretend they don’t.

But our nervous systems are equipped with a remarkable ability to change our own wiring; an ability most of us never use.

The ability to decide to embrace…to LOVE…something we instinctively hate. Like pain.

When you embrace the suck, open yourself willingly to the pain, whether physical or mental, you establish a layer of acceptance that diminishes your suffering.

Try it this week. You’ll be surprised how much mileage you get out of changing your resistance to acceptance, your suffering to curiosity…and staying the course.

PS. If you like what I have to say, I hope you’ll consider reading my new book, Buddha in the Trenches. That’s where a lot of these ideas come from! I’m giving away the first 1000 copies at www.buddhainthetrenches.com. Still some left! Pass it on! 🙂