With the coronavirus, it’s become dull, dreary days of the same thing.
For me, it’s this:
Today, I got up and did a heavy workout I particularly did not want to do, but I did it. Indifferently.
I am waiting until I can feel again.
At some point, you have to live. Sitting at home all day is not living — it’s a slow death.
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Let’s be frank, those who do things that others won’t do are the winners in this world. Or, at least the winners with themselves.
When you think back on all the famous inventors and innovators in this world, what did they all have in common? An insane work ethic. A desire to never give up. An insatiable desire to succeed and to not stop until it happens.
During the coronavirus and every day God grants breath in your body, you have to be willing to do the things no one else will. You have to be willing to workout by yourself at home with no one there to push but yourself. You have to be willing to get up out of bed and face the doldrums of your life right now. You have to be willing to work harder than your colleagues so you don’t get laid off.
Not only do you have to have the will, but you have to do it. Every day. Every time. Every way. No matter what.
Only then will you have peace with yourself in what you can truly accomplish and will you accomplish your dreams.
I feel oppressed
It’s weighing me down
It’s hard to get back up
Hard to be found.
One day is like the next
Mind-numbing boring and depressed.
I wish I could be refreshed.
Oh, when, God, will I not be a mess?
You’re probably wondering: what does the CrossFit Hero WOD Murph have to do with the coronavirus?
Lieutenant Michael Murphy died for our freedom in Afghanistan, and he has a CrossFit Hero workout named after him, which is something CrossFit does to honor our men and women who have given their lives for our freedom. He also has the honor of being the only CrossFit workout that every CrossFit gym in the United States does regularly every Memorial Day.
That’s besides the point. I did Murph today. It was exactly what I needed mentally, physically, and spiritually at this moment in my life. It was hard. But I did really well. I kept thinking of his sacrifice for our freedoms and how now we are all locked up at home, not free. I kept wondering what he would think about all this…
During the fight of the coronavirus, keep in mind those who fought for us before and the sacrifices they made. While we “suffer” at home, it’s not truly suffering in comparison.
Take a deep breath. This will all be over soon. We will have our freedom back. Not thanks to the stupid coronavirus, but thanks to the men and women of our armed forces, such as Murph.
In these days of the coronavirus where you are stuck inside all day long with nothing to do and nowhere to go, it’s hard to feel alive. You are physically breathing, but are you living? Not when you can’t go and do the things you want to do.
The only thing making me feel alive is when I work out. When my heart starts pumping and I do the things others won’t do. When my body moves like it was designed to do. When it’s hard. Only then do I feel alive.
With the coronavirus causing the world to pause, many people have embarked upon at-home workouts with just minimal equipment. This usually involves just a dumbbell.
I’ve been doing many of these workouts in addition to my lifting regimen, and I can say that I am thoroughly getting my ass kicked.
Dumbbells are a challenge in and of themselves. You have to manipulate them differently, and they will most definitely catch up to you.
When I first started a couple of years ago, every time I’d be extremely sore. Now, I just get beat by them. I am coming to enjoy dumbbells. They are a great break from the barbell that’s for sure.
So with the coronavirus raging, get a set of dumbbells and stay fit. You will come to like them and be good at them. Just another tool in your wheelhouse you’ll have when you need it.
There’s something about lifting heavy that is a need; it does something for the soul.
It gives you a sense of accomplishment, like you’ve done something for the day.
It’s hard. Frequently, you don’t want to do it. But you do it anyways.
That, to me, is powerful.
Lifting heavy has been one of the few things I like doing.
I’ve just decided if I can’t do anything, go anywhere, or engage in normal, human social behavior, I might as well beat myself up with CrossFit. After all, I don’t have anything to go do that I should avoid soreness for.
Thus, every day, I get up trying to beat the shit out of myself. Thrusters, wall balls, lunges, long runs, bike rides, and dumbbells galore.
Why not?
What else do I have to do?
In a world that tells you to stop living, to give up your dreams, to not go anywhere, to not do anything, to fear for your life, to give up on others, to lay your plans aside, and to not trust that God has got it, in such a world, you need to be unstoppable.
You need to push back, to not believe the lies, the hearsay, the hysteria, and the antics, and to keep moving towards your dreams.
You cannot stop while you have breath in your body, while your legs can move, and your arms can reach for the stars because one day, you will be stopped.
None of us know when that day will come, which is why you cannot stop.
Don’t stop living because the world tells you not to. The world is not in charge; you are.
God will call you when He wants you. Until then, keep moving, keep living, keep dreaming, keep fighting, keep hoping, and keep praying.
Be the unstoppable force you were gifted with from the moment you were born.
