I have absolutely no idea why I was looking for inspiration today. I also have absolutely no idea why THIS video came to mind. But I’m very glad it did. When I watched this video for the first time, shortly after learning about and getting into the Crossfit program, I new I’d never forget it.
Back in 2008, a 14-year-old girl named Kallista Pappas competed in that summer’s Crossfit Games. She weighed 103 pounds, and was working out with women who were much older and much stronger than she was at the time. She didn’t care. The last workout came up, and it was 30 reps of squat clean and jerks for time. The weight used was 100lbs.
I’ll say this again in case you don’t understand. A 103 pound 14-year-old took her own body weight from the ground, and put it over her head 30 times. Oh, and at rep 23, that entire weight fell on her shin. And she still finished. She picked up that barbell, let out her war cry, and completed the workout. This is one of the most inspiring performances I have ever seen.
The moral of the story — You can do so much more than you think. —
Don’t be afraid to dream big in ANY part of your life. Work hard to do whatever it takes to reach your goals, and you never know what might happen — you just might reach, or dare I say, surpass them. I’ll leave you with a quote that I like:
Aim for the moon, that way, even if you miss you'll still be amongst the stars! - W. Clement Stone
Thank you for this performance, Kallista! It will always serve as an inspiration to me.
Kallista C&J Finals from CrossFit Newcastle on Vimeo.
Smashby's Training Blog 