Take the next step…
Ahhh, New Year’s Resolutions.
We all celebrate our collection of completed years on this beautiful planet once per year, whichever day happens to be our birthday. Why then do we choose January first as the day to start everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions(NYRs)? Is it because the first day of the year always seems so far away and we want to continue behaving in a way that we know we shouldn’t? Maybe it’s because the majority of people don’t want to make the effort to change at all? Some store up a list of NYRs starting in January and add to the list all year long, then, when D-Day arrives, they proclaim that NYRs don’t work anyway, so they aren’t going to participate! Ha, I love it!! What does this have to do with CrossFit? Did you mis-click to a blog of some person who likes to ramble?
Last week while I was sitting at coffee with a good friend, I came across a political cartoon in the Aspen Daily News. It was a picture of a person in a bio-hazard suit, full face mask and all, using a pair of long tongs to carry the 2009 calendar to a bio-hazard collection bin. It is a shame to think that a multitude of people see last year from just that perspective. It is safe to say that Bernie Madoff had a pretty bad year, but, on the bright side, he was able to tick off 5 months of his 150 year prison sentence. The passengers on the American flight that landed in the Hudson thought they were going to have a bad year, with an abrupt end, but then things were put into perspective, they were given a second chance and they all realized that the state of the economy should be the least of their worries. New Year’s Resolutions, Ponzi schemes, plane crashes, what does this have to do with CrossFit?
It is safe to say that Vince Shimp introduced the Roaring Fork Valley to CrossFit. I can think of sixty-some odd members of a certain gym in the mid-valley business center who’ve been impacted in a positive way because of what Vince Shimp started in his garage. I remember when Vince’s accident first happened. I asked him if he’d be willing to trade his injured foot and his CrossFit gym for a healthy foot and no CrossFit gym. It made him think. At the time, he probably would have kept the injured foot and the new gym, but the months of agony that would soon follow, would make any man cry for his old foot back! He wasn’t given the option, you can’t turn back time and you can’t just exchange injured feet for healthy ones. Vince was forced to sacrifice; he ended up trading 5AM workouts in the garage for five long months in a recliner. I would imagine that Vince probably looks back on 2009 as the worst year of his life. As the pill boxes pile into the bedside trash can and the medical bills fill the mailbox as surely as the sun rises, it would be difficult for even the toughest of humans to see the bright side of life.
I think of myself as ultra-optimistic, always seeing the good in every situation. But, this year was a test for me as well. After each phone conversation with Vinny, learning that he was going in for another surgery or staying another week in the hospital, I began to lose heart. I didn’t know what to say, aside from, “Hang in there”, I became utterly speechless. I began to wonder what this was all about, why was this happening? To this day, I don’t have an answer. But certain things are beginning to come full circle and some light is being shed on the situation. In life, what is really important? If we were to ask the passengers on the aforementioned American flight what they thought about as the plane was going down, I bet we’d receive a unanimous answer; friends and family. Relationship is what this journey is all about. Enhancing the lives of others, no? You see, the thing that people don’t understand about CrossFit is that the fitness you attain is only part of a large package of life-changing benefits.
Even if you are only into CrossFit for the fitness benefits, the excess side effects are soon to set in. Sure, increased muscle mass and bone density and decreased body fat will take over your body composition, but what about increased energy? What about a positive mindset, increased self-esteem, determination, a willingness to go the extra mile, to park at the back of the parking lot and return the cart to the cart corral? How about the satisfaction of a new personal record, or nailing your first, unassisted pull-up? There is camaraderie and community, CrossFit doesn’t only forge Elite Fitness, it forges friendship.
To Vinny,
Take the next step, literally and figuratively; literally in the sense that you are learning to walk again and figuratively in the way of pressing on. It has been a long journey, but it is safe to say that you are on “Recovery Road”. Don’t feel bad for yourself; feel good about the seed you’ve planted. Feel good about the positive impact you’ve had on so many lives. Think of the friends and family that gathered at the Viceroy to encourage and support YOU. Draw from those who participate at RFCF on a daily basis and hold your head high knowing that none of this would have happened without you. Whatever support you need, know that we are here. Each and every member thanks you and would be more than happy to share a word of encouragement at any time. You’ve impacted many lives, my friend, not just members of the gym, but so many more. I think of my brother and the people he is training in Minnesota, Robby Ryser in Canada, Wayne in South Africa, Jon and Erik are about to get their Level One Certs, and lastly, me. Thank you, Vinny, for the positive impact you’ve had on my life. If it weren’t for you, I’d still feel guilty being the chubby chef cooking for ultra-fit cyclists and highly successful people. But, now, at the very least, I have a grasp on one of the few things that money cannot buy; a healthy and fit lifestyle.
To RFCF Members,
Take the next step; instead of New Year’s Resolutions, how about a New Year’s Revolution? Webster defines a revolution as a sudden, radical or complete change. It is sudden because there has to be a point when you act, when you decide to change. For CrossFitters, the change becomes suddenly obvious after your first round of Cindy at your first Elements class, no? You’ve completed one round, it took one minute, you can’t breathe and you have nine minutes to go. In CrossFit you trade the 3 sets of 10 reps and a jaunt on the elliptical for something radically different. But, as the first half of January 2010 quickly passes, let’s focus on the last bit of the definition, complete change. Let’s take the next step toward making a complete change. You see, CrossFit is similar to life in the regard that you are either advancing or retreating, there is no middle ground, no standing still. You are either getting better or worse. If you feel that you are becoming more fit, but you haven’t addressed your diet, let’s take that step. If once per week isn’t challenging to you, or you find the couch more enticing than the barbell; let’s focus on your commitment. Whatever issues you are facing, please know that your fellow members, Vince and myself are here to help. We’ve developed a “third place”, aside from work and home, which will help you deal with whatever you face at those other two places.
As a gym, Vince and I are committed to taking the next step. We will be having monthly fitness challenges, movie nights, nutrition month, seminars, and, eventually, certifications. We will expand our facility into the neighboring space as soon as we are able. We are committed to you, to helping improve your lives.
Maybe you read this and think it is a long list of BS, but maybe there is some meat here for you; something you can chew on for awhile until it really hits home.
We want Roaring Fork CrossFit to be a place where you can shed your burdens, even if only for an hour, and focus on the “You vs. You” concept. A place where we realize that all of the difficulties we face are “light weight” and that when it comes to life, “there ain’t nothing to it, but to do it”.
Take the next step.
Your Pal,
Nick
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