“Within one man the whispers they are faint as the rustling winds, blow them away. But many give a foundation to stand strong against the wind…won’t you hear their stories.”
These are lyrics from a song that I heard awhile back…..ok, maybe I wrote them at some point in college during my “I just want to play songs, man…for the people” stage of life (oh you didn’t have that? Weird). Needless to say those lyrics popped up in my head for the first time in 20ish years this past weekend while I was outside, sitting on the patio, thinking about the gym – wishing it was open but knowing that, right now, it can’t be (which is really, really hard in my little microscopic world – but also not nearly as hard as what others are certainly going through).
Maybe they popped up because I was thinking about part of my story.
Crossfit Never Doubt has been a place that I have been a part of since 2012 when it first opened (thanks to Lisa who invited me to be part of this amazing place). I have been very fortunate to be able to be around and invited into many people lives over these last 7.5 years. Yes, I love helping lead and guide and program for people so that they can be the best version of themselves when it comes to health and fitness. But even more so I enjoy hearing people’s stories – hearing about struggles and successes with the tension that life balance often brings – the balance of kids and work and home and inner challenges and exercising and not exercising and stress management and…anything else that has to do with life.
I love stories.
I have found that this time has given me time to contemplate my own life/work/home balance. Honestly, I’m not going to say it’s been exactly on point. Marielle and I were just talking about how fast things moved when we had to close. We went from “there’s this virus people are talking about” to “we might have to limit classes” to “we are going to limit class sizes” to “we have to close indefinitely” all within a week. And I am not one that makes quick decisions like that. More of an analysis by paralysis kind of person.
And so when things move that quickly and when what I love to do (and what helps to support my family) is forced to stop…I can feel a bit out of balance.
And then I sat on a patio and thought about this gym. I thought about a friend that I met because of this place who is going through a situation that I cannot even imagine right now. I thought about a text that I got from a member saying, “However we can help, let us know.” I thought about the many members that apologetically sent messages because of this uncertain time and they had no idea where the next paycheck was coming from (please! Do not apologize for that!) I thought about another member that said motivation is hard at home but the community has gotten them to keep moving. I thought about my staff that continually checks in, continually asks where they can help, continually sacrifices time, continually meets to think of new and different ways to keep engaging members.
There were so many more thoughts that flew through my mind. So many people. So many stories. Many bring a foundation to stay strong against the wind…
Look – this is so much bigger than my story or this gym. You all have stories. And I will bet my life that many will help you stand strong against this windy season. I certainly hope that we can give out what we have so gratefully been given.
Marielle and I can’t say thank you enough, from the bottom of our hearts, for the people that we have been so fortunate to have met because of CrossFit Never Doubt’s existence. Who have shared their stories. You are the one’s that give me the right perspective of reshaping my balance.
You have reminded me of the foundation.
With deep gratitude…