My toxic trait is that I’ll do just about anything in the name of friendship. Let me give you my most recent example. (Yes, this happens more than you’d think)
I have a friend.
She is a gym owner and a total badass. She is great at Olympic lifting and even works with a coach once a week specifically on these movements. For the past several years, one of her goals has been to compete is a weightlifting meet. With every year that passes, she just hasn’t felt quite “ready”. Sound familiar? How many times have we told ourselves that we will run the race, try a new workout class, or even join a gym-”once I’m in better shape.”
Let’s talk about it.
It is very rare that we will ever really be truly READY. We can set a goal, save the date, and have a whole plan laid out. Good intentions and all that. But life will ALWAYS get in the way, I promise you. That is why you start NOW. Everyone has to start somewhere, so why waste another day with good intentions when we can take that first leap, (the hardest step) and just start chipping away RIGHT NOW?! We have all been there. And this is where friendship and community can really come into play.
So my friend’s new gym location happens to share a space with an Olympic lifting gym. How’s that for the stars aligning?! And wait, there’s more. This Olympic gym just so happens to be holding a meet-2 weeks away. Literally in our gym.
So while we are encouraging some of our members to give it a try, giving them the speech that “you have to start somewhere”, I turn it on my friend…guess what she says? You guessed it-she’s “not ready”, but said she will do it next year. *Insert annoying friend who loves to push people out of their comfort zones because she believes in them so much and thinks she knows what’s best for them* (Spoiler alert. It is me. I am friend)
So I tell her I am going to just sign her up. After a heavy layer of friendship, (NOT harassment. 2 very different things. Usually.) She finally says that she will do it…ONLY if I do it with her.
Well.
Welcome to Fit By Friendship. I don’t think she actually expected me to agree to her terms-but was I willing to perform my weakest lifts in a spandex onesie in front of a crowd of randos just to see my friend get her lifting spark back and accomplish a goal she’s had on her list for years?
You bet your ass I was. My body HURTS ya’ll. My form is comical, and I have spent the better part of 2 years just skipping over these lifts in general. But was it worth it? Absolutely. We can do hard things. We can do new things. We can get nervous and anxious and excited, and still push through those feelings.
We can come in last place. And guess what? We CAN have fun doing it. Because at what point in adulthood did we decide that we can only work on the things that we are good at? That we have to be perfect and “ready” in order to try something new? And let me let you in on a little secret. In the world of CrossFit, being last usually gets you cheered for the loudest. (Ask me how I know)
All of this rant to say-do the thing. Wear the spandex. Do the thing NOW. Don’t wait. That sense of accomplishment from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and usual bubble? PRICELESS.
Just like friendship.
I am very proud of my friend, and I am proud of myself.
Go be great my friends, life is too short to wait until you’re “ready”. 🧡