“Better” Has No Finish Line ~ Lessons I’m Learning From Crossfit, Part 2

Arrowhead Ad ~ CBS Television

Most of you know I started doing Crossfit back in September. (For those of you who don’t know what the heck that is, click here.)

This “getting back in shape” stuff is killing me.

Last week, I shared with you some important lessons Crossfit is teaching me about writing. Today, I want to talk about what Crossfit is teaching me about myself.

I have a hard time embracing the process of change.

Change doesn’t bug me so much when it’s quick…kind of like sucking in a breath and ripping off a bandage. Fast, sweeping changes, even when I have no choice, don’t bother me as much as the incremental, “chipping away miniscule pieces” kind. You know, the kind where you don’t even see the daily progress because it’s so slight?

That water-dripping-on-a-rock kind of change drives me into a frenzy of impatience, usually followed by the temptation to give up the goal.

Others I know, including my own husband are great at putting (and keeping) their faith in the process. They trust that one day, they’ll look in the mirror and BAM! All those tiny chips have paid off and they’ll have sculpted out a finished goal…a clean office…a book…a better body.

Laura Drake does this better than anyone I know. She sits her butt down every morning at 3 am, often with no idea what she’s going to write, and she trusts in the process. Note: if you want to read about it, she wrote a great post called Press on Regardless.

This weakness of mine, even though I couldn’t articulate it before, is why I jumped in to do Crossfit with my husband. Because I knew I’d  quit on my own.

And my hat’s off to Hubby on this one. The poor man hears comments like:

• Is anything on me smaller/harder/higher/better?
• Can’t you find any difference?
• How come you’re losing all those inches on your waist and I haven’t shed a pound?!
• Remind me again why we’re doing this!!

I swear to God, I’m often like a kid on a car ride: “Are we there yet? Are we there yet??”

Usually, he just points at our daughter. But a few weeks back, he eyeballed me and said, “Your ribs are sticking out more.” It might have only been like a half-inch difference, but I was happy for days.

Slow change SUCKS, in my humble opinion.

I’m a big-picture kind of gal and it’s really hard to envision the importance of “slow change” in a big-picture kind of way. I’m struggling with the need to be patient…there’s just no way around it. I just can’t get stronger any faster.

I keep reminding myself to keep the faith, and wait to see where a year of this crap will take me.

But I have to admit it: after four months of hard exercise, it’s tough to swallow that I’m still incapable of doing a great push-up. (Frankly, I’d even settle for a crappy one, as long as my body was extended and I was doing more than oozing to the floor.)

Then…at a staff meeting this week, I got a message from the universe.

I watched four highly placed executives get up and publicly admit that their management style wasn’t working and ask their team for help. I saw integrity and teamwork in action. And one of the people in the meeting mentioned the quote I used in the title of this post:

Better has no finish line.

The subscript of the ad above says: “Better is in our nature. It’s who we were born to be.”

And I got it. In watching others pick themselves up and dust off their cracked egos, I saw the answer: As long as you keep trying, eventually you will be strong enough and proficient enough to attain your goal. Get a good coach and a good team to help you stay on task.

My recommendation? Be sure to include someone like my guy who’ll notice miniscule changes and compliment you on them. Trust the gal with the bony ribs…it helps. 🙂

Is this a challenge for you too? Are you better with making sweeping changes, or just chipping away at your goals? What helps you or hinders you the most? Enquiring minds LOVE to know these things here at More Cowbell!

Jenny

Special Announcement:

Registration is now open for WANACon, an entirely online writer’s conference (including the opportunity to book appointments with agents).

The conference runs February 22 to February 23, and you can register for one day or both. I’m currently scheduled to teach at least one session and I don’t know yet which day. I’ll be sure to announce it immediately when I know.

Click here to register for both days.
Click here to register for Day 1.
Click here to register for Day 2.