Embrace the Suck

We all hate to suck at things.

Like, we want to be successful and great at it all.

Lemme telll ya- as a perfectionist, not sucking is kind of my jam.

But we have all heard that in order to grow, we have to fail first.

Sounds super fun, right? A lifetime of failures, and for what? Growth? Success?

Sounds.... fun.

Then there’s the other side of the coin: embracing our strengths.

Doesn’t that completely contradict the above statement?

Shouldn’t we be pursuing the things we are good at and drawn to?

The answer to both of those things lies right in the middle.

Figure out what you’re good at/interested in. Your priorities. Your heart’s desires.

Focus on those, and then be willing to suck at them in the name of growth.

We aren’t going to be good at everything, so let’s focus that energy on things that are personalized to us.

I will never be a rockstar singer. Like, this girl can’t carry a tune in a bucket. And I really don’t have the desire to fix this. So I’ve just accepted the fact I should just stick to rap. I can do that. Plus, I like it. So I may screw up the words as I rap along, but eventually imma get it, and rock it.

See there?

I am drawn to and like rap music. I endure the suck of not knowing the words initially, but find it fun to rap like shit until I get it. And I’m unbothered by the fact I’ll never be Christina Aguilera.

(**Side note: by rap, I mean rapping along to established rappers. Nothing like nailing the lyrics perfectly while in my car. I’m not secretly recording an album in my basement. In case you thought I was THAT cool... I’m not.)

Or how about my fitness? (Or lack thereof? 😂) I’m never going to be a power lifter, and that’s perfectly fine by me. But I do want to feel good and confident in my abilities and appearance. So what do I do? I get up and do my workouts, but challenge myself. I’m willing to suck at push-ups, knowing that eventually I’ll be confident in my abilities to knock them out- not ‘girl’ style. That sucking? I embrace it. I’m drawn to that fit girl world, and I’m willing to suck at it until I’m good. That’s meaningful for me.

And one more.

My writing. I’m drawn to that, and as an added bonus? It’s a strength of mine. Couple that with my desire to help other people? Bam. Here you have Luxuriously Dope. Now don’t get it twisted, I’m not just coasting here. I don’t just think I’m good to go. I know that to reach my full potential, I have to challenge myself here, too. That might be making myself sit down and write. Maybe it’s listening to and reading books to expand my knowledge before spewing shit. Maybe it’s writing about topics that aren’t easy to write about. And maybe it’s about failing miserably on some posts, so I can acknowledge, learn, and do better. All of those things might suck, but they’re worth it to get where I want to be.

So if you’re stuck on what you should suck at to grow? Start with what YOU think is worth going through crap for. Establish your strengths and interests. Those are the things that will make the shitty things all worth it.

And keep in mind, these can be things we are already strong in, or interests that we have that are actually really foreign to us, but the desire is there. You don’t have to be strong in it initially, but the drive has to be there.

We get to choose the struggle that will propel us forward.

We won’t be perfect at everything, but we can be damn good at the things that are authentic to us (even if we have to suck first).

And being damn good? That’s Luxuriously Dope. 🖤