It All Comes Back To Oprah

Let me just start with this. I love Oprah.  Seriously...seriously love me some Op.  I don't know how anyone doesn't. I mean, she's frickin' amazing! If you don't like her, what's wrong with you????  Anyhoo, O (yes we are a nickname basis) always talks about the "Ah ha" moments in life.  You know, those moments where the lightbulb goes off in your head and everything comes together in such a perfect way that you can't help but think, "So THAT's what that was all about? How the fuck did I not see that before???"  Ok, so maybe your moment doesn't include an f-bomb but hey, that's me and I accept it!

Well ladies and gents, I had one last week. An ah-ha moment.  Let me just say, it was incredible, amazing...life-changing if you will.

  Do you know that if you do a Google image search for "Ah ha" moment, Oprah's picture 

           comes up?  Just sayinnnnnnn...

Seriously though...life is full of moments like this.  I am learning that there are lessons everywhere you look.  I think that's the key, though...you have to look and be open to discovering potentially uncomfortable things about yourself in order to grow and change and evolve. I'm a firm advocate that you should never stop striving to be better, never stop giving yourself an opportunity to learn something new.  Even in the most uncomfortable circumstances, you are bound to come out better and brighter than you were before.

It's like with CrossFit.  When you begin, maybe you need to start overhead squatting with a training bar or using a band for your pull-ups.  Maybe you ::cough:: jump a small box.  Whatever it is, it's a step.  With each passing day, each WOD you complete, each moment you walk through the door of your box and you give it everything you have, you open yourself up to getting better.  Soon you trade that training bar for an Oly bar.  Then you start adding plates.  One step at a time you move forward, you learn, you practice your technique, you open yourself to constructive criticism, you have faith in yourself, you take a chance and you get better.   You grow.

It's amazing how many of life's lessons can be reflected back to you in the gym.  Peel away your layers and break down your walls.  It's scary and it can hurt and it leaves you vulnerable but it can also be exciting and make you feel powerful and leave you stronger than you were the day before.  Let your guard down and trust in yourself.  Trust your team, your body, your mind.  Trust other people and let them in.  Human beings are not meant to be islands...I'm learning this as I grow.  We achieve our greatest potential when we have others to lean on for support.  This is true both in AND outside the gym.

So, my ah ha moment?  Yeah...that's not really for you to know in great detail.  It's not the point anyway.  It was MY moment.  Go out and find your own. They're everywhere...you just have to know where to look.