No pain, no gain

Behold the current bane of my existence: the Burpee. Also referred to as the squat-thrust. And for four sets of 12 reps, the most dreaded part of my week. I count down toward emancipation and mumble a lot of Nike-esque affirmations to myself while i'm lying there huffing on the mat and then finally, I'm done. Done for the week and in three more weeks, done for eternity. Because as god is my witness, I will never do another burpee again. *cue "Gone with the Wind" soundtrack*

But. 

There's a lesson here in doing shit you hate. I laid there yesterday trying not to stroke out and lectured myself about how reaching one's goals isn't always fun. That there's strength to be gained in pushing through unpleasantries and sacrifice. Growth, even. My trainer is in Toronto, i could have gotten up and left any time I wanted--but i didn't. It didn't even occur to me. Does this make me a better person? In a small way, yeah, it kinda does. The next challenge is always around the corner, and becoming expert in Sucking It Up can only serve me well. And if I can get through burpees--unsupervised!!--well then hell, I can get through anything.