Embrace the Suck

This is my youngest brother Houston (aka Hoot, Hooty, Hooters, Hugh J...)

I haven't mentioned him a ton on this blog because, well, he's off serving the Lord in Germany. He's currently serving on an American Army base, which he thinks is awesome.

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In my last email to Hoot, I had told him about a particularly challenging and difficult thing that happened early last week. I was talking about how I panicked and freaked out... then called in some help... then came up with a plan... and solved the problem. (It was a "This sucked but I Rock" moment, if you will...)

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In his reply email, Hooty said a couple of really cool things that kind of caught me off guard. First, he says: "...I was feeling really bad for what you had to deal with, but I was laughing because I miss you and the family and all the crap that we have to deal with sometimes. I miss dealing with crap, and having the family help, or at least be there. Haha. Sucky, but i did feel really bad that you had to deal with that."

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He misses dealing with crap??!! At first, I was thinking, "Uhhhhh... are you high?" But I do understand what he was saying- about having our family always around and ready to jump in and help each other out. To be honest, our family has a wonderful life. We all get along, we enjoy spending time together, we've been blessed with the gospel and we have the things we need. But, just like everyone else, we have our loads to bear, and Hooters is right: Our family and our relationships and support of each other is something to be missed- and appreciated !! Very cool.

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Now, here's the kicker (this is actually the reason I HAD to write this post!) Hoot continued in his email to say this: "The last few weeks have been tough for me, to tell you the truth. But I met this Army Infantry Guy who was telling me about how much the army sucks sometimes and how difficult the stuff is they make you do. I asked him 'How do you deal with it?' ...and he looks at me and says, 'Man you gotta learn to just Embrace The Suck!!!' hahahaha. I was laughing so hard... 'Embrace the suck'. I thought that was really funny- It's like my motto now! When people are like, 'Man this sucks,' I'm just like, 'Haha, I know man, just Embrace the Suck."

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Not only did this make me laugh, but I LOVE IT!! Because no matter what, there are some things in life and some times that just... suck! And no matter what, sometimes there's just not much you can do but Live with it. Deal with it. Embrace it.

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So, if any of you are feeling a little like this:

...Keep the faith,

Surround yourself with loved ones,

...and EMBRACE THE SUCK.