One of the things I used to say to my kids a lot was that they didn’t have to like doing whatever it is I needed them to do, but they did have to do it. It may have annoyed them (I have it on good authority that I am the Meanest Mom in the Entire Universe, so I’m sure I annoyed them often!). I thought it was important, though, and I still think so.
There is a lot of pressure around us not only to do hard things but to do them with a positive attitude. This may be because it helps other people avoid feeling bad for not giving us a hand or for not overthrowing oppressive systems or something. Point is: there is plenty of pressure out there and life is hard enough without pretending that we feel great about doing difficult stuff. We may feel proud of ourselves afterward. We may like what we got out of the experience as a whole. But we don’t have to like the process.
It turns out that sometimes allowing ourselves to dislike things (like, say, lunges) takes away some of their power. I can do more lunges when I don’t have to smile and pretend they’re fun and I can even have enough energy left to remember why I’m doing them anyway: they work my lower body and core and balance and burn a bunch of calories. Whining can be entirely good for us.
As long as we do the work.
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