This phrase has come up in my coaching sessions with a few clients recently. They find themselves feeling they have to push themselves to do the things they need to get done. These things might be exercising, staying late at work, doing unpleasant paperwork, or personal tasks like taxes or work around the house. (Can you relate?)
Many of us have heard (and/or said) this phrase in the
past. Do you tell yourself this? I believe this is one of the “Lies” our society
teaches us.
Why do I call it a “Lie”?
Because I believe it is not only counter productive, but also
self-defeating!
When we are told to “Just suck it up” we are being told to
ignore or suppress what we are feeling – perhaps dread, overwhelm, anxiousness
or any other kind of resistance.
I have learned (the hard way!) that ignoring my feelings
doesn’t work! Suppressed feelings show
up to haunt us. Sometimes
they show up somewhere else inappropriately, such as blowing up in anger over
something very small. Sometimes even in
the form of illness or depression.
If we take action, i.e. ‘getting it done’, when we are
resistant to it, we create what I call “Split Energy” within us. This just drains our energy and makes our
actions less effective. (Click Here to read about Split Energy)
When we have resistant or negative feelings about what we
are attempting to do, we are a magnet for accidents, technical difficulties,
and less than ideal results. Not only
does it drain us, but it shuts the door to the possibility of attracting Ease,
Serendipity and Joy!
Sure, there are many things that we need to do that we might
not feel like doing, so how do we handle this?
The key to this is to remember that we have a CHOICE about
what we focus on and what we think (or say to ourselves). If we “just suck it up” and take action (i.e.
“get it done”) we are taking action at the same time we are telling ourselves
things like “I hate this!” or “This is so hard.” or “Why do I have to do this?”
etc.
If, in stead BEFORE we take action, we soften our resistance
with thoughts like, “I will feel SO good when this is finished.” Once this is done, I will reward
myself.” “If I take baby steps, this can
be easier than I thought.” Or simply, “I am going to do this, so I want to let
go of all of my resistance to it!”
Once we practice choosing less resistant thoughts, our
energy lightens up, it can get easy and even fun!
In a recent call with a client, this song from my childhood
(Mary Poppins) came up:
“In every job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job's a game
And
every task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It's very clear to see that
A
Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way…”
(and yes, I sang it to my client J )
I didn’t appreciate the great wisdom in that song back
then. I think I need to watch Mary
Poppins again and see what else I missed!
(Maybe a Law of Attraction Movie Party!)
Here’s an example of how things can become easy and
serendipitous -
A client shared that she has had a lot of resistance to
hospitals and doctors, etc. Her husband
needed to go in for outpatient surgery. (being
a diligent client) she decided to let go of her negative thoughts about doctors
and choose to focus on positive things.
She listed some of the serendipity that happened: She thought she missed a turn by the
hospital, but ended up at a free parking to for outpatient services. Once her husband was settled, she went to get
a latte and someone else paid for it!
She ran into a number of hospital staff who were very friendly and
remembered them from a previous visit. And to top it off, her husband’s surgery
went very smoothly and they were done and home much earlier than expected!
In any case, we are all capable of choosing to let go of our
resistance and choose 100% to do something before we take action. When we do, things get much easier!
