Tuesday 10.16.12

The deliberations of choosing one's own WOD

We're collecting donations for Barbells for Boobs throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

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Coach Sarah has her costume ready for  
WCFM's 2nd Annual Halloween Costume WOD & Party!

What are you wearing?

The Difficulty of Change

This will probably end up being my most personal blog posting to date. I'm going to tell you how difficult and wonderful change can be. I'm telling you this story because I think there may be people out there who don't know where to start when it comes to making positive changes, and there may be people that started making positive changes who want to quit...NOW. Because change is hard. REALLY hard. No matter how big or small the changes are. And you'll REALLY want to quit because change is so very discomforting. I mean no one ever says whether the caterpillar is in pain while transforming into a butterfly, and I gotta think that it just might be painful.

Last year, 2011, Jacob and I 1) got married (YEAH!); 2) quit our jobs (HOLY S*!T); 3) changed our careers (because we CAN); 4) moved states (hey, sea level rise is HAPPENING and FL is on the hit list); and 5) started a brand new business (because we wanted to help the economy, yo). Um, that's like...a lot of stuff. For one year. And really, all that was in a matter of 6 months. I don't know what part of me thought implementing all of these changes at the same time would be simple or easy. Maybe I was so confident in and excited about what Jacob and I were doing that I thought the inertia of that energy would override any negativity. And I think my unrealistic expectations are exactly where I got into trouble. Because my goodness -- all of that was SO HARD! And I didn't want anyone to know how much I was struggling. I wanted all these choices Jacob and I made together, and the fact that I was crying wondering "What did we do?", made me feel as if I wasn't smart enough, capable enough, or grateful enough to take on all the changes. And yes, I cried A. LOT. (And y'all call ME the hardass? Puh-lease honey child....)

Fast forward, and it's been over a year of Jacob and me living and working (Would we call it work?) here in the MuscaVegas. And as cheesy as it sounds: what a difference a year makes. I look back at last September through early 2012, and I see now how much I struggled and how much energy it took out of me. Every step of it, though, has been SO WORTH IT. The community that is WCFM, the friends we have and continually make, the proximity of our family, the beauty of 4 seasons, and the generosity and opportunities this past year has afforded us are incredible and often-times overwhelming. And that's the nugget of truth for all of you holding on to the fear of change. Whatever positive change you are actively working towards or contemplating -- whether it is weight loss, a new job, quitting smoking, drinking fewer sodas per week, walking more, being a better friend, paying off debts, getting over a fear of public speaking -- it is worth it. Doing something new or different from the same old routine always puts me off balance, and maybe makes me grumpy for a little while, but the effort always pays me back with blessings I never expected and with blessings for which I never knew to ask. So, if you had a choice between a) making no changes and living with same old dissatisfactions, worries, and fears, or b) making a few small changes (or several HUGE changes) with the possibility of blessings that satisfy and fulfill you in ways you never anticipated, which would YOU choose?

My one piece of advice if you choose "b)"? Set realistic expectations, including the following: it is going to be more difficult than you think will be, it is going to take longer than you think it should, and looking too far ahead is always a fruitless endeavor. Sounds like CrossFit to me. Now leave those excuses at the door and get to work.

WOD

Warm Up Skill:

Kip or Muscle Up

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Strength:

1 RM deadlift

Then, deadlift super sets

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THREE 7 MIN AMRAPS:

#1: 4 deadlift (225/185), 4 box jumps (24"/20")

#2: 4 floor press (per arm, AHAP), 4 clapping pushups

#3: 10 wall balls, 10 pullups (or 2 muscle ups)