Hard Work: an undervalued, missing piece of society’s puzzle

I was at the dollar store yesterday and held the door for an elderly lady, immediately she looked at me and said, “thank-you” with an abundance of sincerity and even some surprise, I said, “your welcome” and continued through the door. However, I wondered why she was SO sincere with her “thank-you”. I was about to understand why in about 10 minutes: As I was waiting in the line at the cash register, the same lady as before was walking out of the store, her hands full with bags (must have spent $40 on nick nacks). A couple of Teenagers were directly behind her and this is what the idiots do: they pass her right before the door and continue through allowing enough time for the door to close and the lady having to turn her back to the door, hands full, and open it herself. Now some people might think this is no big deal, they forgot to hold a door open, she can manage (especially if she’s a CrossFitter). However, this got me going, because back in my father’s day, I would have been able to go outside and grab those two kids, ask them were they live and hand them off to their father where they would have been taught a very painful lesson. If I tried that now, I would be arrested, all I could do in this day and age was stand there in amazement and think to myself ‘there goes the future of our society’.

Society, as of late, has been softening. Physically: with everything so easily accessible people are getting lazy, socially: with our overloading of social media, intellectually: with google and every piece of information available at the touch of a button, and most importantly there is no more fear of punishment because of lawsuits and pushy, “my kids an angel” parents; this equals disrespect. Everything is so fast and easy these days, it turns some people into potatoes… mashed potatoes.

Enter CrossFit. CrossFitter’s always ask eachother what’s your favorite part about CrossFit? My favorite part is that its a revolution against the aforementioned. No matter who you are or who you think you are: woman, man, child, black, asian, white, old, young, elite athlete, couch potato, god’s gift to society, a shy person with low self esteem…ect: your life will be positively altered by CrossFit. How and Why? well simply because CrossFit is Hard, CrossFit is painful, and most of all CrossFit TEACHES. It teaches you about YOU. It will transform you from a mashed potato into a Lion/Lioness hungry for life and all its beauty. This self acceptance doesn’t happen naturally, you have to let it happen, and I have seen it happening in our gym with my own eyes through many of our members, coaches, and Myself. It is a constant evolution that takes place in a person over a lifetime.

CrossFit is also the most honest thing a person can do, the whiteboard doesn’t lie and when it fibs the coach is there to keep you motivated or humble.

When you start CrossFit and it feels like you are scaling every single exercise it can become demoralizing, or it can become fuel to the fire to overcome scaling even when it feels like progression is impossible. This is how CrossFit teaches a person to deal with defeat and gain confidence. On the flip side, when you start to get “good” at CrossFit, it finds a way to beat you back down which can become demoralizing, or it can become fuel to the fire to overcome your lull even when it feels like progression is impossible- starting to see the cycle of the evolution? The point here is that, if you allow yourself to get there: CrossFit can take you on a path of success- not only in fitness but in life. YOU have to let it happen by accepting yourself first.

From Dave lipson on reasons for inaccurate testing of 1 rep max’s:

Have the Balls to Fail

1) Scared to fail, never reaching an actual max. 1RM means you physically cannot lift any more. Fear of injury, perceptions of fragility in the body often spook the athlete from going to that place.

2) EGO. An individual who is afraid to be evaluated on any absolute level. Hampered by who they once were or what they want people to think of them. Terrified that image they have of themselves might be shattered if they don’t live up to expectations.

3) Improper testing ie. cutting range of motion or movement standards.

It takes guts to really look at yourself and accept where you are at this time and place. Some people avoid it like the plague. It can be tough to drop the baggage of who you may have once been, or the way you or others may perceive you. But this is a sport where you will be constantly beat, constantly pushed down only to get back up again. That is why we love it. That is why we grow as people from it.

From this quote, three words stand out here: IT TAKES GUTS. Your life should always take guts, everyday, weather it be standing up to a co-worker, working hard to make a sports team, or giving everything you have in a wod. If you’ve never had even a moment in a situation that takes some guts, your in trouble when it comes to success and being happy. There is a saying “good things come to those who wait” and a Chrysler commercial came out and rebut-led that claim beautifully: “Good things come to those who WORK”.

So when you wake up first thing in the morning, tell yourself to conquer the day whatever it may bring. At the end of the day before your head hits the pillow ask yourself: am I happy with today’s accomplishments? And that’s the moment right there, when you realize that hard work is a constant variable in life, it doesn’t change. There is nobody out there in the world who is 100% accomplished and can stop working hard. They might be very successful and very happy with their achievements so far in their lives but they will fall very quickly from that position if they stop working towards their goals. So no matter what, always have a goal and be ready to work for it. There is no magic recipe for success or happiness, just the willingness to work hard toward a passion.

Some of you reading this might be thinking ‘this guys nuts and obsessed with CrossFit…it’s just a fitness program’ well tell that to Joe Izzo who used CrossFit to recover from cancer or anyone else that has had their life changed in any way by CrossFit. And the next time you walk through a door in public, ask yourself:

“am I the type of person who holds doors for people?”