Never say never.
Ronnie started doing CrossFit at the fire station when he was on shift with his co-workers. We had always been gym rats, hard core on the elliptical, curls, leg press machine, you know. Hearing him talk about this CrossFit thing all the time was annoying to me. It was different, it was new, and I thought it looked crazy and unsafe and I said “I would never do CrossFit”. His passion for CrossFit grew and suddenly he wanted to leave the gym we had always attended together to buy a membership at a CrossFit gym. We had a new baby and one income, so I jokingly said “You better sell something if you want to join a CrossFit gym, I would never pay $100 a month for a gym”. That’s when he literally sold his X-Box and signed up. Ugh. He kept telling me to come try it, you will love it, babe it’s not what you think. And I said, “I will never join a CrossFit gym”.
Time goes on and I am working out daily with my bro-reps, doing super sets and circuit type training and trying to avoid boredom with my training. I started emulating some of the things I saw him doing in his workouts, box jumps, burpees, overhead squats, and people in the gym thought I looked crazy. Finally I accepted his invitation to the gym. I thought I would kill it, I was in great shape. Nope. I was humbled my first day of CrossFit and I’ve been hooked ever since. I was loving the community, loving that Ronnie and I were working together to achieve our own personal fitness goals, and I was becoming stronger than ever.
I remember Ronnie’s first competition. He was brand new to CrossFit and decided to sign up for a Firefighter vs Police competition. I was used to Ronnie being the best at whatever he was doing, but on that day he was not the best. It was humbling for him and for me, I remember saying, “I will never do a CrossFit competition” and I continued to say that over and over.
Fast forward a little, Ronnie got his CrossFit L1 and started training at the gym we attended. His passion for coaching and helping people get healthy grew and we were both very inspired by gyms we visited in other states and seeing how amazing some of the communities were. Suddenly we were investing our life savings into opening a gym in our hometown. As our little gym grew to a BIG gym, my mind was blown by the amount of love there was there, from the coaches, the childcare staff, the members. Watching lives change on the daily made me regret saying “never” so many times in the past.
Last weekend I bit the bullet and participated in my first ever CrossFit competition. I said “never” to this idea so many times before. I am so glad I told “never” to shut up. I had always been the spectator, cheering on Ronnie and our athletes. This time I was in the arena, I was exposed, and a little scared to let my team down. I walked out onto the floor for my first workout, and every fear I previously had disappeared. I saw my CrossFit family in the crowd, smiling, screaming, and cheering for my partner and myself, and it motivated me in a way words can’t describe. I watched a video today from when I PR’d my snatch and I could hear my team yelling my name and cheering as I held that barbell over my head. It was hard for me to contain the tears welling up in my eyes.
If I had let “never” rule over all of the decisions I made over the last few years, I would NEVER have met so many amazing people, seen so many drastic life changes unfold for people I love, and I would NEVER have known how blessed my life would be today. NEVER say Never!
