Our brains are AMAZING. Thoughts, emotions, actions, movements, interactions – all at the speed of light, electrical pulses branching through infinitely intricate wiring (that occasionally misfire when mid-wod maths are involved…).
They help us, demand even, that we run most of our lives on autopilot. If we interrogated every step we took, if we had to decide the yes, no, maybe of each action we took, we would be exhausted. More than exhausted. We would be paralysed.
Sometimes, though, we invited this paralysis. Not consciously but by opening the flood gates to over-analysing the rightness of an event, action or situation.
Take, for instance, the ‘when I’m fit’ exercise starter. Anyone who is in a group fitness community – CrossFit or the like – has no doubt heard a line something like this:
Oh I’ll start [insert group training style here] when I’m a bit fitter.
I’ll be there when I’m in shape!
I’ll give myself the next six months to get fit enough to join.
And the inevitable:
Wow. Wish I’d started sooner!
We know, and they realise, that there is never a right time to start – you will always be ‘fit enough’ and conversely ‘not fit enough’. And that starting, wherever you are on your journey, is almost always a net positive. That just by showing up you have already taken the biggest and most important step forward and given yourself momentum for a bunch more positive steps.
How strange that our brains limit us from taking the next positive step? What are they protecting us from?
As adults, we tend to avoid sucking at stuff. We’ve done our time being awkward, and not very good at things through our childhood and teens and our adult autonomy offers us the opportunity to avoid being at the bottom of a learning ladder most of the time. I think it is this that we are avoiding. We want to privately get to a point where we (believe we) are proficient and THEN we are happy to go public.
We are dodging the exact thing that we encourage in our young people. Show up. Try. Fail. Learn. Get better.
And it’s SUCH a powerful journey. It is how we grow. It is how we stay humble. It is how we connect. It is how we foster success. It is how we practice resilience.
The Open is a huge opportunity for this, and one that a lot of us tap out of. We take the plunge. We start training. We become comfortable in our classes, surrounded by our people. Workouts are tough, but its our new normal. The open rolls around and… next year. When I’m fitter. When I’ve perfected my clean. When I can muscle up (lol…).
The open is new, unknown and very very visible. You are seen, judged, and scored against a global standard. It is nerve wracking. It is scary. And it is everything we should be searching for. The challenge, the step outside the comfort zone. The opportunity to show up and put yourself and your training on the line.
It is confronting. But that’s where the magic happens. We want our kids to learn these things:
Sometimes things are hard. And you know what? If you fail you’ll be ok.
You are stronger than you know, you have more to give when things get tough and you will rise higher when you allow yourself to be lifted by a community.
When we fall short, it is an opportunity to learn and do better.
But sometimes as adults we tap out of these lessons. And we should keep learning them forever.
For me, this open is going to be tough. I haven’t been as consistent as I wanted. I haven’t ticked off a bunch of skills I had hoped to (muscle ups, wall walks, handstand push ups, looking at you!). Fitting in the workouts is going to be a spanner in my weekend routine. But its going to be an opportunity to see where I’m at. To challenge myself. To take a little reality check. To put myself in an uncomfortable position and learn how to be ok with it. To be better in the future.
And I love it. I love the anticipation. The pressure. I love celebrating other people as they clear hurdles they never thought they could. These are practices and lessons that are so integral in the gym and outside. And I’m so grateful for the opportunity.
The open is one opportunity, and it isn’t right for everyone (even though I love it and think everyone should do it #crossfitkoolaid… I know, I know). But let’s find opportunities to show up, be confronted, be challenged and learn. Let’s put into practice the lessons we want our young people to learn. Let’s be role models and life longer learners.
For the love of the work.
For the love of the challenge.
For the love of the learning.
Keep showing up xx
breathekeepmoving.com 