Heartbreak

“That’s why we do what we do”

I love my adventures to the cross fit gym. For me it is fun to learn new skills and build my mental and physical fitness. A few weeks ago I witnessed a very impressive episode of heartbreak. 

The Crossfit games are in full swing. One of the competitors needed to do the recommended workout of the day knowing he would have to complete the whole workout to remain competitive. The workout was hard. It was similar to compressing all the uncomfortableness of a 70.3 race into 12 minutes. This nice man started to struggle about 9 minutes into the workout, and with a few seconds remaining had to do a single heavy lift. 

The clock ticked down to 20 seconds remaining and he started the lift. He almost made the first lift but failed. He tried it again and was not even close! The third time he went as hard as he could and almost had the weight up..struggling...and the clock strikes zero. Game over. No completed lift.

Ouch! That was painful to watch. What do you say? I was at a loss. He was lying on the floor in a pool of sweat and in agony. I heard the words “Well, that’s why I do what I do”.

Great attitude! He got up, shook off the loss and moved on! YAY him.

I was very grateful it was not me. I had my share of coming up short by a few seconds and it is not that fun. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you loose.

Many times in our lives things don’t work out the way they are supposed to. There are injuries to deal with when the race plans are laid. We loose jobs. Maybe even houses. Loved ones die. Dreams get shattered. Sometimes we loose or just plain get beat. Mental trauma and/or fear can set in and take control of every moment. Ouchiewowwa! Next thing you know you could be walking around with a nasty case of mad sad shout pout disease. Then nobody wants to be around you. Maybe even you!

So, what to do? 

I am no counselor, but seems to me there must be a balance between grieving over loss and putting on our big person panties and moving on. 

A good butt kicking once in a while is good for you! It produces humility. 

And, it can be a motivation to learn some much needed lessons or things to avoid future failure.

There is good in every circumstance. Sometimes it takes a while to find it, but the blessings are there. Hunt for them and dwell on the good things! Where your brain goes so does your life. 

“When your going through hell, keep marching” - Winston Churchill.