One would think by the title of this post that I'm going to be talking about animals, or children. No, I'm going to be talking again about olympic lifts.
My coach told me a little story that I may, or may not get perfectly right. An Olympian was asked which of his medal performances was his favorite. He said that he couldn't choose one. That would be like choosing one child over another -- which my coach then said to me, in the middle of clean training, "you have to love them both the same."
Yes, he was talking about snatching and clean and jerks. When I started focusing on olympic weightlifting as my primary "thing", my reasoning was to clean up my snatch (insert joke here). I felt/feel like it is my weakest lift....and you know what? That paradigm shows up when I lift. The mechanics behind the first parts of both the C&J and the snatch are the same. The only difference is the grip width. So why do I have such a hard time with the snatch and not as hard a time with the C&J?
Who knows? At this point, I think the only thing I can really shift is my paradigm about snatches. Change my story, my perspective, and my approach.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
Things
I often think back on all the "things" I've acquired (and wasted money on) in an effort to fully immerse myself in whatever my obsession of the day is. For example: trying to get myself re-certified as a massage therapist. I spent oodles of money on a class, another massage table and books. For what? Now I want to sell the books and the massage table and am having a hard time doing it. Anyone want a massage table?
Then there is the whole coaching crossfit thing. Through that, I have spent tons of money on various certifications and books - oh the books. Now, I don't want to say it was all a waste. Definitely not. I think I could have been a touch more discerning though. Like, did I really have the time to do the NSCA certification or the NASM? Was I really going to use the FMS certification? Really?
Then there is Olympic Weightlifting...and the bar...and the shoes....and... Oh and Tai Chi. I had to have all the books and videos. Also, I have all the diet books out there - trying to improve myself by eliminating my rheumatoid arthritis and increasing my lean muscle mass. I've tried paleo, Eat to Perform, RP Strength, the Lupus diet, Scarsdale, the all protein diet from that guy who died of a heart attack...and oh and my favorite diet - Fit for Life. (Granted that did change my life...honestly.)
I took so many classes trying to move myself in a different direction. Classes that I finished or didn't, and that didn't move me any closer to whatever I was chasing after. I immersed myself in the Landmark cult. I wanted to make a difference in the world, one culty sales pitch at a time. I even learned a new language from Landmark and started speaking it (in tongues) to anyone who would listen.
I've bought tickets to concerts I didn't attend. I've RSVP'd to events I've paid money for and not attended. I've made excuses and wasted money time and time again.
Now, I'm at a point where dollars matter. I don't have a disposable income to play around with. This is illuminating, scary and enlightening. Additionally, I have a family that means more to me than anything. I would give up everything for them. No THING is going to fill any void. My family fills my heart. My family is me. We're now at a point where we think through this stuff a little more. We talk about the long term goals in more detail. We make decisions with purpose. Our decisions are much more rooted around experiences and bucket lists. Not that we're planning on kicking the bucket...but seriously....
When I look back on my life. It's not the things I've acquired or carried through life. It's the experiences. The summers at Camp Crystalaire. The weeks on the deserted island in Wisconsin. The spring vacations on the panhandle of Florida - that we drove to. The bike rides in VT and the whale watching trip (where we saw 98 whales!!) off of the east coast. The drives to St. Louis on snowy highways with my parents yelling at other drivers "don't put on the brakes"!
"Things" are boring. I hope I can instill this in my son, eventually. He's really into collecting Thomas trains and Hot Wheel cars at the moment...
Then there is the whole coaching crossfit thing. Through that, I have spent tons of money on various certifications and books - oh the books. Now, I don't want to say it was all a waste. Definitely not. I think I could have been a touch more discerning though. Like, did I really have the time to do the NSCA certification or the NASM? Was I really going to use the FMS certification? Really?
Then there is Olympic Weightlifting...and the bar...and the shoes....and... Oh and Tai Chi. I had to have all the books and videos. Also, I have all the diet books out there - trying to improve myself by eliminating my rheumatoid arthritis and increasing my lean muscle mass. I've tried paleo, Eat to Perform, RP Strength, the Lupus diet, Scarsdale, the all protein diet from that guy who died of a heart attack...and oh and my favorite diet - Fit for Life. (Granted that did change my life...honestly.)
I took so many classes trying to move myself in a different direction. Classes that I finished or didn't, and that didn't move me any closer to whatever I was chasing after. I immersed myself in the Landmark cult. I wanted to make a difference in the world, one culty sales pitch at a time. I even learned a new language from Landmark and started speaking it (in tongues) to anyone who would listen.
I've bought tickets to concerts I didn't attend. I've RSVP'd to events I've paid money for and not attended. I've made excuses and wasted money time and time again.
Now, I'm at a point where dollars matter. I don't have a disposable income to play around with. This is illuminating, scary and enlightening. Additionally, I have a family that means more to me than anything. I would give up everything for them. No THING is going to fill any void. My family fills my heart. My family is me. We're now at a point where we think through this stuff a little more. We talk about the long term goals in more detail. We make decisions with purpose. Our decisions are much more rooted around experiences and bucket lists. Not that we're planning on kicking the bucket...but seriously....
When I look back on my life. It's not the things I've acquired or carried through life. It's the experiences. The summers at Camp Crystalaire. The weeks on the deserted island in Wisconsin. The spring vacations on the panhandle of Florida - that we drove to. The bike rides in VT and the whale watching trip (where we saw 98 whales!!) off of the east coast. The drives to St. Louis on snowy highways with my parents yelling at other drivers "don't put on the brakes"!
"Things" are boring. I hope I can instill this in my son, eventually. He's really into collecting Thomas trains and Hot Wheel cars at the moment...
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