Meaning
What does Embrace the Suck mean?
Embrace the suck is a military term, in alignment with stoic, Buddhist, as well as Taoist philosophy.
It is utilized as a reminder to accept difficulties and hardships as they are and make the best of them, as they won’t go away by themselves.
Basically it is acknowledging the fact that life sucks dick and instead of fighting it or struggling against it, you should just make the best of it.
Origin
What's the origin of Embrace the Suck?
The phrase had been utilized in the military, since the last century, to help aspiring soldiers get through the challenges, they are facing day to day in the service.
In 2007 Austin Bay published a book, with the phrase given as a title.
The tome is a collection of military lingo and expression.
Spread & Usage
How did Embrace the Suck spread?
In 2008, Urban Dictionary had defined the term, letting internet people to learn the meaning of this funny sounding phrase and enabling them to use it to quench their thirst for memes.
In the second half of the 2010’s a couple of pictures started surfacing on the web, with the text “Embrace the succ” written on them.
One such instance is a deep fried meme of Jon from Garfield eating a deep fried chicken whole, with the text written right on the bird’s carcass.
External resources
- Urban Dictionary – Embrace the Suck
- Careershifters – Why Embracing ‘The Suck’ Is The Key To Setting Yourself Free
“ Basically it is acknowledging the fact that life sucks dick and instead of fighting it or struggling against it, you should just embrace it.”
Not correct.
The principle doesn’t imply that since “life sucks dick”, you should just embrace it. That’s essentially the OPPOSITE of the meaning since that is a defeatist attitude. Firstly, the military does not embrace the mentality that “life sucks” at all. The military embraces and teaches the mentality that your life will be what YOU make it and YOU have what it takes to be victorious, but YOU have to EARN it. “Embrace The Suck” encapsulates the idea that SINCE difficulties do and will arise, you should eagerly recognize them as opportunities to learn and get stronger spiritually, mentally, and physically. You should recognize the value in the challenge of the struggle and lean INTO it rather than pull back from it.
~SGT M. Mason, US Army