The beauty of hard work

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” -Thomas Jefferson

Robe, my teaching partner for 11th grade next year, and I are changing the entire 11th grade curriculum. I have never even taught 11th grade at this school before. He taught this last year but wants to change it up just a bit and I am on board with his ideas. It is pretty exciting. Although this can be very overwhelming because there is SOooo much work to be done. I have to read all the books on top of all the new ones along with brainstorming ideas and figuring out how the hell we can fit it all into three trimesters. This shit ain't easy! However, I realized today this is a lot like my handwalking journey in Crossfit:) I know..you think I am nuts...but this is what I do- make connections. It's fun! Gymnastics is freakin' hard for me. Handwalking has been like a soap opera. Hours upon hours of practice with very little gains...happiness, tears, you name it....partly because it was getting over a fear-which I have FINALLY mastered and partly because it was a hard skill for my brain to acquire. Today I not only went a super far distance but I was more consistent and had some good runs actually within a workout. I realized that planning for this new class is a lot like the extra work I have put into handwalking. Chip away a little at a time and stay focused no matter how long it takes because the reward at the end is THE BEST!!!!! Maybe one day I can even do this!!!

Superhuman?

This past weekend was the Crossfit Games.  If anyone was listening to the live feeds and heard horns blowing – that was myself and a few friends that had the honor and great responsiblity of being given a sacred  hornJ  They may be annoying to those around us in the stands but dammit…..Kris, Lindsey, and Becca heard that shit. When they got tired, they heard the horns and knew we were with them (or at least I like to pretend that is what happens). You can see me with my red horn and 2010 Crossfit Games cowboy hat in this picture looking very intense.  

“The Crossfit games is about human character and the belief we can master anything with enough effort - even ourselves.”  ~from the video below

This totally applies to my job as a teacher. I am doing a lot of reading and lesson planning because I am teaching 11th grade next year for the first time at this school. The literature I choose or the angle in which I teach it, the stories I share with my students, the movies, the art-  everything is chosen with great thought . The idea of helping students begin to believe in themselves, develop integrity, and make this world a better place are the big reasons I teach high school English. While I personally am at a different stage of this journey than my students, we are all on a journey nonetheless. Therefore, as I have pushed myself to become a competitive Crossfit athlete over the past few years, it has also made me a better teacher.

A lot of my friends always tell me how much it stinks that I am in the SoCal Region because there are so many great athletes here. I mean, holy crap, all four of the SoCal girls were in the TOP 10 AT THE FREAKING CROSSFIT GAMES THIS YEAR. I mean, yeah, I would have a better shot at qualifying somewhere else possibly. Yeah, I think some regions need more spots. Yeah, there might be a different way to do it. We could sit here and play the numbers game all day and talk about how it isn’t fair but nothing is going to change. AND...Most importantly, one of the biggest reasons I am the crossfitter that I am today IS from the support of Kris, Becca, Katie, and Lindsey. hahah so what is a gal to do?! :)   Well, what I CAN do is realize that battling it out with the top contenders at regionals only makes me better. I was definitely the most scared and challenged this year, and guess what? Next year will be heavier, scarier, and even more competitive.

However, putting myself out there makes me a better wife, teacher, friend, and athlete- and future mother. While I may have only ended up in 13^th this past year at Regionals, I realized that I could hang with the big wigs and hold my own.  It made me believe that I can get even better while also giving me some perspective on what to focus on for the next year in my training along with some new goals- with the end goal, as always, of actually making it to The Games as an individual. But if this doesn’t happen I am not going to deem my efforts a failure. It is all part of MY journey.

This is exactly what I want for my students, not necessarily being a Crossfit athlete, but pushing themselves to be better humans in this world, being afraid, taking risks, not making excuses, and finding the positive in each situation. I want them to make this world better but that isn’t easy to do if you don’t have self confidence and the drive to attack your weaknesses all while handling the ups and downs of training but also life. Crossfit tests all of these things within me and makes me better. I want my students to grow up with that same resiliency.

Our red VCF shirts say “Superhero Training” but in reality “What people experience when they come to the Games is not the superhuman but the very human.”