The Cycle of Suck

Sometimes life sucks. I know that as a Christian I probably am not supposed to say that. I am supposed to present the idea that once you begin following the teaching of Jesus, everyday is filled with rainbows, sunshine, and lollipops. But that is not honest.

As helpful as that info is not, I thought it would be helpful to chronicle the emotional process that happens when something that sucks happens. This way you can know what to expect and know what demons you will have to face and wrestle with. This is the order it happens in my life, complete with the questioning that goes on and the thoughts behind it:

Hurt: “Why me?”

It’s impossible not to take a sucky situation in your life personal. You feel like a loser and alone.

Disappointment: “What did I do wrong?”

You start to think you can’t do anything right and wonder what you did to deserve this. Maybe even what you thought was a great opportunity ended in disaster and dashes your future hopes.

Frustration: “What do I do now?”

You would do anything to change the outcome but there’s nothing that can be done.

Anger: “Who’s doing this/made this happen?”

You start blaming because there has to be a reason and if there is a reason then that means someone, or something, is out to get you. You start trying to figure out who not to trust so you can prevent this next time.

Depression: “What’s the point?”

You think nothing will ever go right and it weighs you down, down, down. Your process might be a little different than mine, but chances are it’s exactly the same. You may be asking yourself, “I don’t know if this makes me feel better or worse?” or “Thanks for dumping all that crap on me”.

We have to get through these stages in order to get beyond these situations. Too many people get stuck in one of these places and end up living a miserable existence. They tend to view life through the lens of whatever stage they’re stuck in. This is scary because it isn’t difficult to let years go by living in bitterness because of our frustration with life. You have to let yourself work this all out so you can reach a point of break-through. We still have to navigate the brokenness that still peppers this existence.

And of course, there are many aspects of life that are better on this spiritual journey. I have a higher lever of clarity, purpose, and value than previously. But it is these difficult stages of life that get you off track and making bad decisions. And that’s the point of this post. You have to learn how to get through those points.

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