Sunday Story…Give Back

Friday night I had the great pleasure of spending time with Brian Williams of Think Kindness.Org. Brian and I go way back and it was great to catch up with all the good work he has been doing. On Saturday he was out at cowboy stadium talking to 4000 young cheerleaders after spending all week at 8 elementary schools in the Dallas area.

Brian started out years ago on a mission to document 1 million acts of kindness. That mission has resulted in adopting 2 orphanages in Kenya, tens of thousands of pairs of shoes donated most of them went to Africa, where children with no shoes aren’t allowed to attend school. He has several more projects in the works that will be even more exciting.

Needless to say I am re-inspired. My martial arts schools have had acts of kindness requirements for years. The reason I do what I do is to inspire each and every one of you, my readers. Inspire you to be better, to be more than you are now…to be better physically, mentally, spiritually. And in being better we change the world. The world doesn’t change on one huge act the shifts the axis. The world changes by small acts done incrementally, daily things we do that create a ripple effect of across broad domains.

We are about to embark on a new journey. A new challenge is coming up and we are going to add some kindness components. As you know we are already partnered with Sweat Angels…every time you check in on Facebook we make a donation that goes for charitable works…this month it is winter coats for kids who can’t afford them. We are going to partner with Think Kindness.org in collecting shoes for the next 2 weeks and the elementary schools Brian has already started.

We change the world when we change ourselves. Think about the change we want to see in the world. Be that change.

Namaste
John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday–stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…Choose

Stuff happens. It is the way of our people. Stuff is going to happen. A lot of it will be good stuff. Some of it will be bad stuff. Most of the stuff, good or bad, you won’t be expecting. The real challenge is how you deal with the stuff that happens. This is where we see your character reveal itself.

The good stuff is pretty easy to deal with. You are happy. You feel fulfilled and satisfied. Good stuff is, well, good. No worries.

The bad stuff, on the other hand, is a different story. The bad stuff can go from ruining your day to ruining your life.
The question is what are you going to do with the bad stuff happening to you? How will you react? What kind of attitude are you going to adopt?
Will you be defeated? Will you give up? Will you try to ignore it and hope it goes away?
Will you look at it as a blessing in disguise? Will you search for the lesson in it? Will you dig down inside and dig in? Will you be indomitable? Will you be courageous? Will you be unbroken, indefatigable, and undefeatable?

The choice is yours. It has always been your choice. Whatever happens to you, you get to choose how you will react, who you will be in the battle. Noble or ignoble? Friend or foe? Happy or mad? Filled with hope and love or bitterness and despair? You decide which is best.

You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have.

Stay in the fight!


John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…Back to the Box

The Holidays are over. The relatives are gone. The tree is out of the house, the lights are down, and things are almost back to normal. Except for one thing…you haven’t made it back to the box. Remember the box…the CrossFit Box. Let’s be honest…you are a little scared. You remember how hard it was when you first started, how sore you were, that over all malaise that overtook you for the first couple of weeks and you aren’t sure you really want to go through all that again. It isn’t like hitting the local globo-gym for a 20 minute snooze fest on the tread mill or dancing through a fluffy salsa-like aerobic thing. No, this is real work, barbells, weights, volume and intensity that is going to create a level of fitness you say you want.

Here’s why you need to get back:
You miss it…well that isn’t exactly true…you miss that feeling you get after you are done. Those endorphins pumping, the blood roaring, breath catching feelings that you can only get from a solid strength and conditioning workout of the day. You miss knowing your fitness is growing every day. You miss getting out of bed and looking forward to seeing how much stronger you are than yesterday. You miss the people. Be honest you miss it all.

We (the community) miss you. That’s right we all miss you. We need your energy, your enthusiasm, your voice to add to our cheering section. We miss watching you get better. We miss the look on your face when you finally get that thing you have been working so hard to get. We miss you blood sweat and tears. You are family.

I miss you. That’s right your coach misses you. I miss seeing you progress. I miss the struggle, the thrill of victory and even the agony of defeat. I miss picking you up, I miss the determined look in your eyes as you face down the demons of steel, gravity, and indecision. I miss your desire and determination.

Remember this isn’t the old way of working out. This is training…training for life, training for what and who you want to be 20 years from now. The body you build today is the one you will be living in 20 years from now. The mental toughness, the can’t fail attitude, the steel spine of strength and fitness are all cornerstones of a future you are going to love living in.

You need this. You need us. We need you.

Face your fear and go ahead anyway. Be indomitable

See you in the box! Tomorrow!

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…Results and Excuses

Pick one. Pick the one you want. You can’t have both. You can’t have results today and excuses tomorrow. You have to decide which one you will accept.

Let me help you out…excuses are easy…I don’t have time…I want to get in shape first…That doesn’t work for me…I’m not athletic enough…It’s too hard…I’ll get hurt…I don’t have the money…I’m too old…I’m too fat…None of my clothes are right…People will make fun of me. Those are some that come to the front of my brain quickly. They are all true by the way. Every last one of them. Here is a news flash for you…whether you think you can or you think you can’t; you are right. If you think you don’t have time you don’t have time. If you think it is too hard, it is. If you think you are too old, you are.

For every one of these excuses I can find someone, somewhere who could have used the same excuse but they went out and did it anyway. Someone busier, more out of shape, fatter, more impoverished, older managed to figure out how to get the RESULTS they wanted.

Excuses are not reasons. The reason I can’t workout is because I don’t have time. Nope…the reason you can’t workout out is because you CHOOSE to not make the time to work out. Working out is not more important than whatever else you are spending your 168 hours a week doing. I could go on and on but I won’t.

Fact: Results and the resultant feelings of success and pleasure need to outweigh the pain of continuing doing what you are doing now. You are human…you are conditioned to move away from pain and toward pleasure. When the pleasure of living in a well conditioned, fit, active body is greater than the pain of engulfing a piece of pizza and drowning in beer then you will change.

Accept excuses and continue doing what you are doing now.

Accept results and change what you are doing.

It isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. It is a very simple human equation…more pleasure, less pain. Change is hard…it is going to hurt and you are going to think more pain isn’t worth the pleasure down the road. You are wrong. Put down that beer and back away from the pizza it isn’t worth it in the long run. You don’t have to believe me; look around at your friends and neighbors and parents who have made those choices before you. Then take a look around and find some people who are making the choices you are thinking about making. Who is healthier, happier, fitter and stronger? I rest my case.

Results not excuses.

Be Well

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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