Learning from the People Around You

I've talked a lot about what I learn from my training and my personal experiences both in and outside of the gym, but over the past year or so, I want to say I've learned equally as much from the people (both good and bad) that have been a part of my life. I'm going to be specific in some cases and purposefully vague in others, but I feel like I need to start with someone who's become a huge part of my CF and personal life. 

Melissa: My training partner, competition teammate and now best friend. I will be the first to admit and be proud of the fact that Melissa trains harder than me and pretty much anyone I know. She is dedicated and determined, but at the same time human. She has bad days, days where she is down, but she always seems to pick herself up and kick ass the next day. We are lucky enough to balance each other out almost perfectly, but rarely do I get to tell her how much her dedication inspires me. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it's there. Having her around has given me more confidence, something to work towards, someone to laugh with and someone who listens and gets me better than most people in my life. 

The plethora of men I've dated in the past year: I could probably write a book and really make you all laugh, but what I learned from this is much different than what I expected. The most obvious things would be that I had to learn to be happy with myself to realize what I want from a relationship and sticking to the things I wanted without sacrificing too much or settling is perfectly okay. Two things I learned that were much more subtle would be the following: no matter what happens, the gym will always be there, as my safe place and an arena where I can feel strong, where I can celebrate my happiness and work through tough times; it is consistent and always works. Secondly, I've learned to be unapologetically me, to do what I want when I want and to stay true to myself no matter what result that will have on the relationship I am in (this is HUGE for me). 

Lastly (for this post), would be all of my coaches, Chris at CFW, Mike and Gilbert at CFN and Steve at Downstate CF/Swistak Olympic Lifting. Having people around you who care about your training, spend the time to correct and observe what you are doing and giving helpful feedback is invaluable. As hard as it is to believe (wink face), I've never been great at listening to authority, but working with coaches on something I love has taught me to listen, to accept constructive criticism and most of all to do something about it. 

This is only a start of who and from what I've learned recently, so likely I'll be back to write more about this later in the week :) Just remember to look around, to take things in and learn from all of it. 

165 Power clean!!

Crossfit Sistttassss

Mel stringing 3 muscle ups!!!!