Community. Webster's definition: a unified body of individuals
This past weekend me, Mel, Crystal and John headed out to CrossFit 204 to help out with their Classic competition. There were athletes competing from all over Canada and we were all so stoked to be a part of it. Mel, me and Crystal a.k.a. The ShopGym Girls were there pretty much to marshal some of the running portion and to load sleds. John, on the other hand, worked with Paleo Nick on roasting a good old fashioned hawg ;)
First of all I just want to say that Mike from CrossFit 204 is such a class act. I don't know the guy from Adam but every time I had a question or he was instructing us on what to do he just had this aura about him that made me feel so welcome and so not stressed about what we needed to do. Thanks so much Mike!
I was also witness to something while I was waiting in line in the lobby, I won't go into details about it but I have to say that I walked away with a smile. Just being able to witness the basic kindness and gentle spirit of one of the competing athletes as she chatted and thanked a spectator for coming to support her. Crystal KP, you are a class act as well.
One of the things that CrossFit often talks about is community. The unified body. I have to say that on Saturday I witnessed this first hand. The sense of unification was palatable. No matter where you were from or whether you knew the athlete on a personal level or not, everyone wanted everyone to do well. There was no egos nor attitudes, it was just pure rooting for the next guy. Obviously there is a sense of competition in the air, as Ricky Bobby says "if you ain't first you're last!" but it just isn't that "dog eat dog" mentality. It's community. The guy standing next to you has no problem chatting with you about the events or how heavy those snatches were or how hard the athletes work to get to where they are. There's no judging or backstabbing, it's just genuine respect and kindness for people. It just really makes me think about the what ifs. What if we all took a little bit of this mentality and used it in our everyday lives? What if we rooted for the other guy once in awhile instead of ourselves? What if we all took the time to be thankful for the people in our lives that are our "spectators"? I don't know, I think it would be interesting to see the tiny acts of goodness trickle into something so much bigger than ourselves. Something to think about anyway.
Thanks go out to Mike and CrossFit 204 again. We really felt like a part of la famiglia! Just wish I would've worn my Iron Maiden shirt....next time :)
~We sometimes feel that what we do is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. Mother Teresa.
Peace out my community of ShopGymer!
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I like.....ma
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