Over the last few weeks, I’ve had some conversations with some of the athletes I get to work with that have gone really well. I mean, surprisingly well! A lot of times, people who are in the gym are expecting (or hoping for) perfection. They want to ALWAYS PR. They want to ALWAYS feel good. They want to ALWAYS feel like they did really well in the workout.
Well, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you’re really sore. Sometimes there’s too much on your mind outside of the 4 walls of CrossFit Lakewood. And you know what? Sometimes you just don’t really feel like working out!
BUT, and here’s the catch. You still showed up. Even if being at the gym wasn’t your first choice, you still came in, and you’re still going to leave better than you were when you came in… hopefully a bit happier than when you arrived, too!
The conversations I’ve been having with people have made me so happy because they (you guys!) are doing a GREAT job of:
Keeping CrossFit in Perspective!
I am SUPER competitive. I ALWAYS want to do really well, and when I don’t, it can definitely get me down. You guys are helping me chill out those pressures on myself a little bit. If a CrossFit issue is the biggest problem I’ve run into today… I’d say the day went pretty well, right? What you guys are reminding me to do, is the same stuff I try to work on with each of you.
Take a “problem” of yours, and instead of getting upset at yourself, the barbell, the weight… focus on what we can do to IMPROVE the situation, and learn from where we are at that exact moment. Pretty simple concept that can be easy to forget “in the heat of the moment”.
There are so many SERIOUS problems in the world. So many people going through struggles I could never imagine. And I let myself get upset over a workout?
THANK YOU to the CrossFit Lakewood Family for helping me keep life in perspective a little bit more, and thank you to Lisbeth and her blog, for sharing another gem.
As Fran (an amazing member of the CFLW Family) said to me the other day (and it really hit home and made my heart smile):
“I appreciate you.”
All of you. Really. Thank you for all having such a positive influence on me. I try daily to repay even a portion of what you all mean to me.
I am thankful for all of what I am blessed enough to have! Friends. Family. Health.
(Sometimes it’s just nice to remind YOURSELF of what you’re thankful for, to do it “out loud”!)
Grateful For These Problems
~by Lisbeth
Be grateful for your problems. They’re here to teach you.
Be thankful, especially if your problems are “first-world”: the coffee isn’t hot enough, your new shoes don’t fit right, the boss didn’t say “Thank-you” and you just didn’t like the workout at the gym this morning.
Those are great freakin’ problems.
Be happy your daily vocabulary doesn’t include phrases like white blood cell count or transplant, or visiting hours. Be thrilled you can take your health for granted. Be happy you can take your friends for granted. Be estatic you can take your life and safety and security for granted.
We are lucky, so very lucky, if our concerns center on chalk abuse and not child abuse, on “Did he get to depth?” and not “What do you mean he didn’t make it to school?” And that our CrossFit concerns, while very real and valid and centered in our lives, are exactly what they are: sound and fury.
Her wall-ball didn’t touch the mark. I bounced my deadlift. He didn’t lock out.
Yeah. Good problems. Be happy, be grateful, and go help somebody.
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