“Named must your fear be, before banish it you can.” – Yoda
Amy’s story made me realize something about CrossFit — actually the most important thing about CrossFit. Hear me out…
Most people join CrossFit to lose fat, build muscle, seek an adrenaline rush, and feel stronger, which as we all know – leads to looking better naked (oh come on…you know it’s true!). But, what we soon realize once we start getting into it, is that all those pluses just happen to be really great perks and benefits – mere by-products, if you will.
In reality, what keeps us coming back is the fact that we begin to accomplish things we’ve never been able to… EVER. You know exactly what I’m talking about. That “Holy sh!t, I can’t believe I just did that!” feeling where you frantically look around hoping someone else witnessed the miracle that just happened (if a tree falls down in the woods and no one’s around…) Just saying.
Hard work yields easier lives. And it’s this hard work that shy people away. Let’s face it, some folks just do not enjoy physical suffering. But after doing CrossFit consistently for a couple of months or so, we begin to actually relish it. We embrace the discomfort and persevere, knowing that the discomfort will lead to growth — mentally, physically and spiritually. This is why the slogan at CrossFit JAX is “mentally tough, physically hard, spiritually strong”. We do it because enduring a small amount of physical discomfort is worth the mental strength we’ll gain. The juice is most definitely worth the squeeze. It not only develops our character, but enables us to step out of our comfort zone, which is a great thing. Once we get over our fear & discomfort, we realize there was nothing to fret about in the first place. The great news is that this empowerment stays with us throughout the entire day and filters over into our relationships both at work, and more importantly, at home. Those few minutes of discomfort are totally worth the benefits awaiting us on the other side.
The CrossFit Open takes this up a notch. It’s a chance to name our fears and put the discomfort behind us. This is why the Open is such a big deal and why we are recruiting you to register along with the rest of us. Besides, it’s only $20 to sign up!
So, now that you’ve been intrigued…what will your “Holy sh!+” moment be?
