Payoffs

Whew! My family threw a big ole Christmas party this past weekend - we throw it every year. Every year, during the planning/cleaning/marathon shopping that takes place beforehand, I dread the whole shebang. Yet every year, I have a GREAT time at the party and I remember why we throw it. So I got to thinking...what other things are temporarily horrible but SOOO worth the payoff?

-Dental surgery.
-Plastic surgery. OK, so I don't really know if this one's true. Anyone who's seen me in person can tell I've not gone under the knife.
-Perms. Though it's been years since I've sat through one of these stinky messes. Thank God the 80s are over!
-Waxing of any body parts. Though some are quite worse than others.
-Tattoos.
-OK, so, physical transformations of any sort.
-Having a baby. A physical transformation, to be sure, but so much more!
-Buying a new car.
-Finding a new job. The glory moment here? Quitting the old one! Take that, you Lumbergh look-a-like!

Please note I deliberately did NOT add the following to the "high payoff" list:
-Piercings. Some are, some aren't, but I suspect any piercing that's not done in the center of an earlobe is NOT.
-Hazing/Hell Week. Greek life is fun, but it's not all that!
-High school.