Appreciation

“I wake up in the morning and I see that flower, with the dew on its petals, and at the way it's folding out, and it makes me happy, she said. It's important to focus on the things in the here and now, I think. In a month, the flower will be shriveled and you will miss its beauty if you don't make the effort to do it now. Your life, eventually, is the same way.” 

― Dan Buettner, Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way

Appreciation. It's important to appreciate things in life big and small. It's so incredibly easy to get caught up in the drama, the negatives, the hype. Its so easy to forget how good I have it sometimes, but recently I find myself choosing to view everything differently.

Wednesday I had crossfit and I was really tired before I had even arrived for my class. We started off by reviewing some air squats, dead lifts, and medicine ball cleans, and I did fine during all of it and felt great. Heres were things start to change,...The WODwas a 15 minute AMRAP ( as many rounds as possible) that consisted of 5 deadlifts, 10 medicine ball cleans, and 20 sit ups. During the WOD my hamstrings started to tighten up and it was pulling down on my hips making it uncomfortable to bend down. I completed 4 2/3 rounds, and started to get down in myself because I knew I could have pushed myself 10x harder if my back didn't start to tense up. 

As soon as that thought entered my head, I decided I was going to look at the situation differently. Why was I going to sit here and beat myself up because my muscles were tight? I wanted to be proud and feel accomplished because I have continually engage myself in crossfit and I didn't give up. I hardened up and I pushed through the WOD. Instead of ruining my night I appreciated my effort and hard work. It felt good to not let such a simple thing get in the way of my success and happiness. It isn't easy, especially when you are use to getting down on yourself, but it is possible to change your thoughts. 

I had crossfit again this morning at 10:30 and it was honestly the hardest WOD to date.  The warm up was 20 burpees and 30 air squat, then we worked on pull ups and reviewed power cleans. Then came the WOD...

WOD -6 RFT ( rounds for time)

7 power cleans (65 lbs)

10 pull-ups (with bands)

20 over head lunges (10 lbs)

Time : 21:49

   I finished first out of our class, (that is not what is important because it is not a race between you and the other people, it's a challenge between you and yourself, which is part of the reason I love crossfit ) and it made me very proud of myself. I do not know what came over me, but I turned it into high gear. My trainer and one of the guys who was helping with class today made comments about how strong I am.  I use to be so self concours about my strength, especially my thighs, but at crossfit my strength is my weapon.  My thighs are welcomed, encouraged... Not shunned. I feel comfortable being myself at crossfit. I can't believe its been three weeks already since I started this journey. So much positivity has happened in my life since, I am excited to see where the next month takes me.

Today I am grateful for my bed. I am so exhausted after today's WOD that my bed has never felt more comfortable. I am perfectly content watching movies and hanging out on this Saturday night. It's well deserved and I love some me time :) 

Hope everyone had an inspiring week!

xxx,

Hippie_Roots

Challenges

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” ― Paulo Coelho

Have you ever had the feeling in the pit of your stomach, knowing that something good is taking place? That uncomfortable feeling of accepting the growth that comes with a challenge? I am currently accepting one of the greatest and scariest challenges of my life, HEAD ON!
I had crossfit twice since my last post, and I wanted to wait until I got the full experience of a week as a beginner to write about it. If I had to sum up my experience in one word it would be UNCOMFORTABLE....uncomfortable in one of the most amazing ways. I know it sounds crazy, but once you experience this kind of moment, you will understand what I am talking about.

In the past week I have pushed myself further than I have in a long time not only physically, but mentally. I have so much energy, and am able to get a good nights rest, finally. I have been so sore from working out my muscles in such a foreign way that my biggest obstacle each day is getting in and out of my car. It sounds funny, but if that is the biggest obstacle each day, I'll take it! I already find my posture fixing itself, especially in my back and shoulders, because I am so sore, I am forced to hold myself up properly, which makes me hold my head up right, high, facing the World.
In the past week, I already feel like I am a part of something bigger than myself. People I don't even know yet cheer me on, fix my form, encourage me to push it out, face myself, challenge myself. In one week, my perception of my life, of the World I live in has changed. The World is a cold, cruel, and scary place sometimes, so it is important to find a good, positive support system and that is exactly what crossfit is. I found a great video that explains crossfit and why it is so addictive, and fun to be apart of. Check it out! http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mlVrkiCoKkg


What Am I grateful for (day 2)
I am grateful and inspired by the fact that yesterday I ran 3 - 400mm without stopping. The people who know me, know how much running and I do not get along, at all! The second the word run, ran off of my trainer Rick's lips, I could feel my heart sink. Throughout yesterday's WOD ( work out of the day) I reminded myself that all I had to do was push myself hard enough to finish, although the time on the clock is important, it's not the most important thing. What's important is looking yourself in the face and getting over the fear of failing, than what you can accomplish will amaze you!

What are you grateful for, or inspired by today?
Have you challenged yourself physically or mentally lately? If so,how?


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

xxx,
Hippie_Roots

" If you get, give. If you learn, teach." - Maya Angelou

" If you get, give. If you learn, teach." - Maya Angelou

I had a very interesting experience happen to me yesterday that has been replaying over and over in my head. I've been having a rough week and Was really starting to get down about certain things. I wanted to take a mental health day from work , but for whatever reason ( I like to think of it as good karma) I decided to woman up and go in. I am an Instructional Aide at a school for kids with Autism, and within literally ten minutes of seeing the students my entire mood and mind set changed. There is no greater feeling than to have students come up to you and give you a hug, or say good morning, or even say your name.
I spent most of the morning interacting with the students, pulling them around on a cart, or playing catch with them in the gym. To see students come up to me to play, having fun, and laughing filled my heart with an unexplainable feeling. In these moments I realized that what these students teach me everyday about life is an amazing gift that I feel privileged to be able to receive each day.
Now a days, most people don't enjoy their jobs. Its an endless routine, a pay check, but for me, I wake up each day knowing that I am going to a job where the difference I make, is equivalent to the difference these students make in my life. It's really beautiful when you think about it :). It really blew my mind the way my entire frame of thinking shifted, and I wanted to keep up this amazing experience and feeling. So I sat down with some Apple Cinnamon Tea, and decided that each day I would reflect on ONE thing that I was grateful for, happy about, or inspired by and put them in a jar. I want to create a jar full of uplifting, beautiful memories that I could reflect on, whenever I needed too.
This brings me to the next portion of my entry....
WHAT AM I GRATEFUL FOR TODAY? (Day 1 )
I am grateful to have a house over my a head. A place where I can come home and unwind every night. It's hard to find a place where you can truly be yourself in this World, and I'm lucky to have a nook in the Universe where I can truly just be, my weird self. I spend most of my time listening to music, writing, and editing photos I take on my whereabouts through life. I like to be creative, and it's important to have a place where I am comfortable to do so.

What are you grateful for today?

Ps I will be writing about intro to crossfit tomorrow :)


xxx,
hippie_roots

New Beginnings

"We all want to break our orbits, float like a satellite gone wild in space, run the risk of disintegration. We all want to take our lives in our own hands and hurl them out among the stars.”
―  David Bottoms

So it's  2 weeks into the New Year and I decided now was the best time for me to get the ball rolling on my blog. I am really excited for what is in store this year! Although, the year has not been off to the best start, I've already learned so much about myself, and in two weeks, I really started to question what changes I need to make in order for me to reach the goals I set for myself.  In the upcoming days I will be posting about dreams, goals, and resolutions for myself and would love to hear feedback about some of yours!

xxx,

-A