I absolutely love the blog article “You Don’t Suck As Much As You Think You Do,” by Lisbeth (check it out - http://wordswithlisbeth.com/2015/01/29/you-dont-suck-as-much-as-you-think-you-do/) so I decided to take her post and put a spin on it. You should definitely read her blog before you read mine, as it is written quite clearly and cleverly. She puts an emphasis on her perspective as a crossfit athlete, whereas my “remix” is simply about life. Keep in mind that mine is written from a 16 year old’s perspective compared to an older, wiser perspective originally.
If you’re going to make it through life, then you need to accept one thing: You do not suck as much as you think you do.
Most of us are far harder on ourselves than anyone else ever will be. We look at other people and compare ourselves, whether it’s on instagram, Facebook, or in the supermarket. We often cease to consider everything that has led up to this very moment in our life and theirs. We forget that developing skills, knowledge, and physical abilities takes time and patience. This can cause us to beat ourselves up repetitively.
Our culture pushes us to suck less and be winners. Winners are celebrated and losers are forgotten. The person who looks the best and performs the best gets the most followers. The person with the best posts gets the most likes. Get off of social media if you notice the amount of likes you receive affecting your mentality.
You will burn out if you repeatedly tell yourself that you suck. There’s only so long you can punch yourself in the face mentally before you just give up and breakdown. You shouldn’t have to live like that.
It gets old. No one wants to hang out with the one in the corner crying about how much they suck at everything and how no one likes them. I know because I’ve been that person.
One day, I realized I was spending so much time hating myself that no one had a chance to get to know me. To change this I took a teeny tiny baby step; I asked someone for help. The person I asked gave me resources, listened to me, and gave me helpful feedback. They even helped me work up enough nerve to ask the question that petrified me.
“What’s wrong with me?” The answer is unambiguous. There is nothing wrong with me, or anybody for that matter. We all have plenty of issues, but that is part of being a human.
And now? After talking with people, seeking help, and facing my most dangerous question, I have started to accept that I am a pretty awesome homosapien.
Do I still think that I suck at some things? YES, but it’s okay to suck sometimes.
I realized that by beating myself up all the time about my shortcomings, I was creating a miserable life for myself. Simply put, you can’t grow as a person when you don’t believe that you deserve to be happy.
Does putting myself in a vulnerable position and opening up to people make me weak? Maybe. That’s okay. I’m making progress and I’m happy.
The simple fact of the matter is that you do not suck as much as you think you do. You can do this. You are doing this. You’ve made it this far.
Stop obsessing about what you suck at. Address your issue head on. Practice coping with it, talk about it, yell at it, prove it wrong. Find someone that can relate to your issue, talk to a friend, talk to a therapist, join an online forum, or start a club to brainstorm how to deal with the issue from different perspectives. Do the thing that you think you suck at until you suck less. Above all accept that you can’t be perfect.
