Crap sandwich

Have you ever heard of the crap sandwich? Actually, there’s another word for it, but to avoid anyone becoming offended by the language and missing the valuable lesson, I’ll call it the crap sandwich. This is a concept I first learned when reading Liz Gilbert’s book, Big Magic. She, in turn, got it from writer, Mark Manson. The idea is this: Everything sucks some of the time. In order to get what we want in life, we have to learn to take the bad with the good.

How revolutionary is that? Consider how many of us falsely believe if we’re living our truth, finding our bliss, and sparking our joy, then life will be sunshine and skittles. It’ll be #GoodVibesOnly and #NoBadDays. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Even the biggest dreams of our heart, come with undesirable aspects to them.

For instance, if you want a relationship, you also have to take conflict, misunderstanding, and learning to compromise. If you want a baby, you have to tolerate sleep deprivation, blowout diapers, and the possibility of projectile vomit. If you want to be your own boss, you also have to accept variable pay and financially lean years as you grow your business. If you want to be a world traveler, you put up with flight delays, occasional turbulence, and lost luggage from time to time. Everything has a price. But if you truly want it, you’ll see it as worth it.

Since learning the crap sandwich concept, I find myself mentally saying, crap sandwich, as a means of accepting the unwanted parts of what I asked for. We all have to eat crap from time to time. If you absolutely can’t, then perhaps it’s not something you want badly enough. But when you can take your crap sandwich, throw some hot sauce on it, and eat it with gladness, then you know something’s really worth it. What’s that thing for you? What makes you willing to accept every moment of possible bad for all the overwhelming yumminess of the good? Crap sandwiches are part of life. Start asking for fries with it.