Embrace YOU!

I think we could all learn some valuable life lessons from children.

This morning I was telling the story of when my son was 5 years old and wanted to be "brown".
When he was in kindergarten he had a little girl friend named Desire (pronounced Dez-er-ray). She was a precious little black girl and he talked about her all the time.
One day he came home and informed me that when he grew up he was going to have brown skin.
When I asked him why, he explained that he was going marry Desire so he needed to have brown skin like she did.
As sweet as I thought this was, I explained to him that he didn't need to change who he was to marry anybody and that it was important to just be himself.
He thought about this very hard for a moment and then proclaimed that he was going to have brown skin and have orange hair.
"Why?", I asked.
He answered very simply, "Because I like the color orange."

Fast forward 9 years. His skin is not brown and his hair is not orange, but he is a 14-year old that has embraced being an individual. He is that kid in band that has the long hair when no one else does. When all the kids were wearing skinny jeans, it seemed he was the one kid who refused. He didn't care what everyone else was wearing. (smart kid) When all his friends were playing baseball, he chose soccer.
He doesn't follow "the crowd" and aside from that day when he was 5, he has never wished he was anyone other than who he is. The kid is pretty self confident.

I have found that as adults we still struggle with this very thing. Self-Confidence.
I have met so many people in my adult life who are not happy with who they are, wishing they could have what someone else has,  or do what someone else does.
I know I have been guilty of this in the past, thinking "if I could do "x" like this person, I would be sooo much happier!"
This is not healthy. Mentally it can be debilitating.

As CrossFitters, most of us at one point or another have looked over at that person next to us who has just crushed their WOD, secretly wishing they would drop a plate on their foot. We yell and congratulate them on their PR, giving them high fives while secretly thinking, "Damn It! How did they just beat me?"

It's okay to admit it. I mean, maybe you had a bad day and are just in a terrible mood. This doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you human. When it becomes a regular thing though, when you are constantly comparing yourself to someone else, that is the time to step back and take a breath and reevaluate.

If your thoughts are constantly on what other people are doing, you are no longer working on yourself. It makes it a bit more difficult to become better if you are focused and preoccupied with what everyone else is doing. What this WILL DO is cause you to get frustrated, disappointed and frankly will just suck the fun right out of your day!

As some of you know, one of my favorite CrossFit athletes is Cheryl Brost, initially because she is my age and watching her compete in the CrossFit Games gave me the confidence that I was not too old for CrossFit. Cheryl is a phenomenal athlete and I think it would be incredible to be as strong and fast as she is one day.
Coach Mike Burgener is another amazing person that inspires me and I can only hope to be as great of a coach as he is one day.
Will I ever be just like Cheryl Brost or Mike Burgener?
Nope! It's impossible for the simple reason that I am not Cheryl Brost or Mike Burgener. I am me. Do I want to get better? YES, and they inspire me to push myself harder, set new goals, continue to learn and better myself.

God made us all very different for a reason. We all have different goals, skills, talent, gifts, dreams...and faults. If we were all made the same, this world would be a very boring, uncolorful place.

So, the next time you get your butt kicked in a WOD by that person, EMBRACE it!
Be INSPIRED by it!
What you may not realize is that YOU were the one that inspired them first.

Believe! You Can Do This!

It is that time again when one year comes to an end and another year begins. A time when we look back on the past year and pat ourselves on the back for achieving goals that we set for ourselves OR wonder "What the hell happened?!"

I have stated before that I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. Why? Well, let me ask you. How many of your New Year's Resolutions have you actually achieved? My guess is, probably not that many.

Now let me ask you another question.

How many of the goals that you have set for yourself have you met? I would venture to guess that you have reached many of them.

Have you achieved all of your goals? Probably not. If you have, I would tell you it is time to make some more. We should ALWAYS have our sights set on a goal and when we reach that goal, set a new one! Remember, "The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race."

As I have looked back on this past year, I am thrilled and amazed at how much has happened.
There were many goals that I set out for myself that I still have not reached, but I am certainly closer to achieving them than I was a year ago.

As far as goals met, I competed in 4 CrossFit competitions in the RX division,  I even came in second place in my first Master's Division at the Reindeer Games. I recieved my CrossFit Gymnastic Cert., organized my very first and successful fundraiser benefiting Autism, (WODism for Autism). I went to the CrossFit Games and watched some amazing athletes! I met Cheryl Brost, Lindsey Smith, Rich Froning Jr AND Fitness Lonnie! I learned butterfly pullups, got my first bar muscle up and got stronger.

I also surprised myself with achieving my largest goal.

Owning and running my own box has been a long time goal of mine, more like a dream of mine. I saw that dream fulfilled back in August when I and two of my good friends opened CrossFit Alabaster. It has been a huge success and that is due to my outstanding partners and our amazing (and fun) athletes! I have made some pretty incredible relationships because of CrossFit Alabaster and have the opportunity to spend time with some pretty amazing people on a daily basis. I am blessed.

This morning while I was in church listening to my dad preach, he said this during the sermon, "sometimes opportunities come disguised as impossibilities. Remember, nothing is impossible with God!"

This is so relevant to me. I don't know if I thought it was impossible to have my own box, but I did wonder if it would ever be possible. What I can say is that I BELIEVED I could do it. I don't know what your faith is, but I do know this. You must BELIEVE  for it to come to pass. I truly believed. I had a few people tell me that I would not be any good at all running my own gym/business. That I didn't know how to do "this", I didn't know how to do "that". I wasn't good at "this", I needed to be better at "that".

I had faith in myself though. I had a positive support group and I chose to listen to them. I chose to believe in myself and I chose to put my faith in Him.

Have you ever set a goal or set out to do something and had someone tell you that you couldn't do it?

Did you do it anyway and succeed? Why? Because you had faith in yourself! You believed you could do it!

The same also applies to your fitness goals, as well. One of my goals this year was to have a "PRETTY Muscle Up". It's okay, you can laugh, but if you saw my muscle up, you would agree that this is a very good goal for me to have. The other day, I was on the rings working with one of our other coaches and he told me, "Dawn, give me a few minutes, I will have you on top of those rings! It's going to happen today!"

HE believed!

We transitioned, we kipped, we broke everything down back to the basics. All the things I already knew. I could do this! I was ready to do this...right? I got back up on the rings, did this beautiful kip (well, it felt beautiful)...and felt myself stop pulling, mid-swing.

For the first time, I actually heard the words in my head. "You are going to fall."

I was scared I was going to fall. I KNEW I was going to fail. I was scared I would go through the rings...all the way through and fall out of the rings. I did not expect to get on top of those rings. So...I didn't.

I did not believe.

Guess what goal I have not reached. Guess who is holding me back...me.

So today I am asking you to make goals for yourself. Write them down. Share them with someone! My biggest goals were achieved because I had help and encouragement and I BELIEVED.

You can do this!

2013 is going to be an amazing year!

Happy New Year!

My Experience at the 2012 CrossFit Games

I didn't think it was supposed to rain in sunny California!

It has been a week since I had the incredible experience of going to the 2012 CrossFit Games and it has taken me a full week to process what an amazing weekend it was!

A few months ago, my husband told me that he wanted to take me on a weekend get away, just the two of us, no kids. Where did I want to go?

I told him, “The CrossFit Games!”

Seriously?

Yes! Seriously!

The very first event I wanted to see was the Master’s. I know that 90% of that crowd was there to see Rich Froning Jr., Annie T and the who’s who in CrossFit, but for me, the Master’s were first on my list. They had already started when we finally made it in the gate, but I was mesmerized instantly. 

These athletes were absolutely amazing! I was humbled, enthralled and inspired watching these incredible people trudge through WOD’s that would have crushed me! Watching 60+ year old women knock out pull-ups and double unders like there were nothing is something I think everyone should see! Seeing Freddy Camacho compete was pretty exciting, too!

Freddy Camacho

Master's chipper WOD

I also had my check list of friends I wanted to see. Our first stop, was to stop by the 2Pood booth and visit my friend, Justin Key. I cannot explain how cool it is to travel all the way across the country and attend an event knowing you will run into someone you know!  Friends that I have made in the CrossFit world through competitions, certs or events. Really, I think this was one of the most exciting things for me.

My husband and I with our friend, Crystal and her son Morgan.

Shelby Levy and I right before the "Double Banger" event.

I loved that I was able to visit again with Jeff Tucker, Coach Burgener and Chuck Carswell and have the opportunity to introduce my husband to them. Being able to meet people that I have become friends with on Facebook because of CrossFit was just awesome. To meet Eileen Schreiber was a big highlight! Meeting Candi, with WOD Love, Kevin Daigle and Lisbeth Darsh, I mean, really, it was hard to contain me! Seeing Nicko Kazadzis with Atlas Power Wraps and being able to finally hug his neck for all the help he gave me for the WODism for Autism...it just made my weekend.

Eileen!

Me,Tucker and Nicko

Of course meeting Fitness Lonnie was just an experience in itself!

Honestly, these moments are what my weekend was about. Yes, we watched the Games! Are you kidding? We sat in the stands and baked in the California sun and cheered. We jumped to our feet and screamed as it came down to the wire between Kristen Clever and Talayna Fortunato. We were caught up in the emotion watching Jenny Lebaw struggle through the bar muscle up triplet. We sat in awe as we watched Chris Spealler clean a med ball that weighed as much as he did and made it look easy. I had goosebumps as I watched Matt Chan take the podium in 2nd place and cried with Annie as it was announced she was the Fittest Woman in the world for the second time. But you see, I could have done all this while watching the games on my computer at home. Being there at the Games was soo much more than just watching the elite crush workouts. For me, it really was about the community. It is truly something I have never experienced before.

This past weekend, I met many of the “who’s who” of CrossFit and I remained star struck most of the weekend. Here is what really stood out the most to me.  I did not meet ONE asshole. Not one! In a place full of 10,000 souls, I was surrounded by a group of people that I had something in common with and every person I met was just nice! When does that happen?

I was so excited to finally meet Cheryl Brost. She has been my inspiration for 2 years.

I do have a confession to make. There was one person I did want to meet over everyone else that weekend. She was the top of my list and I when I did finally meet her, I became like a kid. Cheryl Brost did not disappoint me, she was adorable! I had just had my picture taken with Lindsey Smith and Jermey Kinnick when she ran up to talk to them. I looked at my husband in disbelief because she was running right at me.

I looked at her and said, “Oh my God! I have been wanting to meet you all weekend!”

She said, “Oh my God! I have been wanting to meet you, too!

And you know what?

I believed her.