Monday Morning Inspiration

Let’s get to know an inspirational woman today. Shawna is a follower of Fitness Bitness and like me is a CrossFitter at CFB. (Have I mentioned today that I love CrossFit?) I haven’t had the privilege of working out with her because she gets up way too early for me. But I know we’ll meet eventually. Shawna has only been CrossFitting a couple of months but she competed in her first event just a few days ago. Her determination is crazy powerful.

Getting to know you!

1. Age:

2. Favorite Exercise:

3. Hobbies

4. Have you always loved fitness?

5. What motivates you?

6. What fitness plans or goals do you have for the future?

Here are Shawna's responses:

1. I am 39 years old

2. Crossfit is the only exercise I have done for more than a couple of days.

3. I love crafting I make and sell all kinds of crafts.

4. I have never liked fitness. I have been overweight my entire adult life and have never felt comfortable working out anywhere until I joined CFB.

5. My goal of being healthy by 40 is a big motivator and the people at the box help me stay motivated. Some like yourself I have never met in person but yet they continue to post on my wall and inspire me.

6. I want to continue to grow stronger and get better at crossfit.

I love seeing strength and fitness click with folks. That is inspiring to me.

To find a sport or an exercise or a group fitness class you can become passionate about is a major gift. And when you share your passion with others, it’s a gift that can keep on giving (or annoying.)

Congrats Shawna! And good luck on your journey and on your next competition!

Never, ever give up!

No Regrets

There is no time like the present. At the end of the day are you excited about what you have accomplished? If not, start the next day with determination to set your course straight. 

Then engulf your life with the motivation to make it happen. 

With each breath you have the potential to start over. So keep at it!

So Why All The Handstands?

(Biltmore Mansion, disregard the sweat marks. It was HOT! But look close. I made that lady smile.)

Let's just say I totally get what a mid-life crisis is all about. Except on the positive side, I think of it more like a mid-life awakening. 

When we're younger the world is open to us. New possibilities and adventures are around every corner. We dream and see positive things in our future. We live in a state of blissful naivete. But as we mature, we set our path and along that path we get knocked around a bit. Sometimes we get knocked around a lot and we shut down the variables in our life so we can control the knocks a little better. We get in a routine and we set down a pattern and that becomes our law. 

Time speeds up and before we know it we're knocking on whatever age milestone you want to pick, 30,40,50 and our personal life is a little flat or lacking. Somewhere along the road we started thinking, "I just can't," or "I'm too old for that, " or "what will people think." The funny thing is, these thoughts are all illusions. 

Yes life may be more complicated for us due to family, finances and commitments. But those things do not stop the possibilities. Those things do not control your ability to dream. Those things do not remove adventure from your grasp. 

When I hit 40, I started thinking, "Wow, if I feel this bad now, what is it going to be like when I get to 50 or 60!" That was a super scary thought. I started to resign to the thought that I would never be able to live a fit life and do active stuff. I started to tell myself that exercise was done for me because it made me hurt so bad. I started to say to myself, "You're old and you should start acting your age."

But luckily my curious nature got the best of me again. I truthfully asked myself if I had tried everything to see if I could find the right combination of things to help me feel better. Of course the answer was no. I started reading and decided to radically change my diet first. I picked one thing and stuck with it long enough to test results both my perception and inflammatory markers in my blood work. When very little positive results happened, I swung the other direction with my diet and stuck with it again long enough to test results. That is when I started to feel things happen. I started to see those little things as victories. Instead of saying look how long this is taking or look at how far you have to go, I started seeing possibilities. 

And the rest is history! You see, the possibilities, dreams and adventures were always there waiting. I had just not seen them until I started to acknowledge the victories. Those little victories gave me a foothold. 

So, why all the handstands? Because I can! Because I'm 41 and people my age aren't suppose to do crazy things like that. Because I was afraid. Because I'm stubborn. Because I'm a fighter. Because my body works better now. Because it's fun. Because it reminds me of how far I have come.

Because I hope it makes you think, "Maybe I can reach my goals too!"

1. What is limiting you and how can you work around it?

2. What actions can you take today to move closer to your goals?

3. Have you even defined your goals?

4. Are you giving yourself the small victories?