Sunday, January 26, 2014

Cross-fit #146 The habit

"I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed – you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin – it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

I am Habit"

Habits is the root of commitment to a lifestyle or anything at all in life.
Your life is effectively determined by it.
In the small and big things.
From hygiene to business.
From lifting to walking posture.
Habit forms the basis for success and it's going to be so especially in Crossfit.

Form the habit of walking up to the bar with the same procedure every single time.
Form the habit of mentally cueing in your head when it does get tiring.
Form the habit of simply showing up day after day even after a totally smashed day.
Habits like these make the progress easier, it makes the ride less painful.

Similarly, habits form the basis of any successful individual out there.
Do a quick Google and you'l notice many habits of successful people and the small little things that they do.
Notice that, the habits aren't big noticeable ones.
Most crucial habits are the small ones. Those that go unnoticed.
But those habits are the ones that will bring discipline, maturity and confidence in your life.

Jesus had the habit of praying daily, even when he was so tired in the garden of Gethsemane.
Because of this habit, he had the mental capacity to deal with the other issues which needed more drive.
Form good habits.
Because they're going to determine, You.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Cross-fit #145 Caution vs Fear

In the midst of rapidly recovering from my injury, I feel like I'm just starting out all over again.
I find myself re-learning movements, re-learning the basics of basics.
And excelling at them, even though they're darn simple.
Then there're movements which are just ground-breaking, those which I (Kinda) never thought I was going to do ever again, or at least not in the near future.
Things like Snatching, Jerking, Toes To Bar or Muscle Ups.
I recall doing them and being in utter amazement at how great God is.
But of course, there's always that fear in the back of my head.
So many, what-ifs....
What if I fall and injure myself? What if I snatch and somehow dislocate my shoulder?
So much fear.

Of course, I went into those movements because I was given the green light by none other than Coach.
He encouraged (Forced) me to do them.
So after succeeding, there's still that sense of fear.
Coach asked, "Any pain? Any at all?"
The response was, "No, but I'm scared, really scared".
Coach replied, "It's not fear, it is now caution and you need to be cautious".

I realized that there's really a fine line between being cautious and being fearful.
Being cautious is to take extra care, to pay extra attention to every detail that is in a movement. It focuses and brings out the best while pushing the limits bit by bit.
Being afraid, simply just causes you to be all over the place. You keep thinking of the problem, such that there's a good chance that it might just actually occur. You focus on the problem not the solution.
We should be cautious and not afraid.
In our movements, approach to Crossfit and even to life.
Be cautious of a workout, know that it is going to be spicy but give the appropriate attention to the smallest of details to make you succeed. Being afraid just causes you to hesitate and might even "fear-out" from doing it altogether.
Be cautious in life, be aware of your surroundings and your environment you're working in. Be aware of the fine points in that big presentation. Don't be afraid because that'll just cause you to stumble.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
Even in our relationship with God.
Live life, not just as one whom is afraid of God and the consequences that might arise because you sin.
But to know and have Godly fear, to be aware that his presence is here and to live life because you want to do it right, not because of the potential downfalls.
We all live for the Glory of God in our lives. So when the time comes and we have to actually make certain decisions to live it right, are we going to do so because we're afraid of going to hell? Or are we doing so because we want to please God.
The mental state of both approaches are so similar but are in fact, very different.

Live life differently.
Not being afraid, because living in fear or things isn't going to help you grow.
Live life with caution and embrace that God-given freedom you have.

Monday, January 13, 2014

CROSS-fit #144 The little battles

Social media, advertising and marketing have sensationalized the big battle.
You see the big games on the court or field. You see clips of big dunks and big lifts.
You see the big battles and big victories.
Little do they know that the big battles have already been decided weeks before it has even begun

The media has perverted the way someone actually achieves success
it begins in the small battles and the big one is just the one tipping point of it all.
It's the little things in your life that count, not the small ones.

The BIG battles could be, Making that big Clean or Snatch.
It could be the big business deal which is about to be clinched.
But really, the important moments are the small ones.

Just turning up day after day, is a victory in itself.
Deciding to show up, deciding to make a conscious decision to push yourself daily.
Not giving up when you're tired, not from the workout or from your job, but deep down inside in your spirit.
That's a small victory.

It's these small victories which make a man.
Rich Froning wasn't made overnight. I'm sure he had many small battles.
Live life like Christ, fight those small battles day after day, to make yourself count for Christ.
Fight the temptation, that nudging thought in your head, it might be a small battle, but win them all.