Sandra Bragg: goals

Crossfit Regionals, Granite Games and Overcoming My Own Perceptions of My Abilities

3:00 PM

http://crossfitechelon.com/wod-0118/strength-quote/

When we went to the Mid Atlantic Crossfit Regionals a few months ago there was one girl that I really enjoyed watching. While I really love watching all of the athletes workout because they are absolutely amazing and inspiring there was one woman in particular that just really spoke to my soul. As expected, the athletes at regionals are chiseled and cut and they look the athlete part. They are not the normal mere mortals that do crossfit to live a healthier lifestyle. No, no, they are the individuals whose lives are dedicated to trying to become fittest on Earth.

And, this girl who just resonated with me, she was absolutely amazing and she wasn’t chiseled or cut. Not to say she wasn’t fit; girl could do legless rope climbs, strict muscle ups and placed top 3^rd on one of the more strenuous workouts of the weekend. And for someone like me, who isn’t a tiny little princess; who hasn’t figured out the “enjoy food and workout” balance yet, seeing a more “normal” body kill it was awesome. (Normal, of course, being a fully relative term)

http://www.fitnessquotesimg.com/quotes-images/crossfit-is-a-way-of-life-530852.jpg

What I really loved about this girl is that, no doubt, people would look at this regional athlete and without knowing better would make judgment calls about her or what they think she would be able to do, or her skills. And, I feel like because she was a tad bit thicker than your typical regionals athlete, she really showed me that what you look like, or what you might be carrying around with you does not dictate your skills or abilities.

Because, if I’m being honest, I think it’s easy to look at people and pigeonhole them into what they should be able to do depending on how they look. And, when that happens I feel like it’s a great disservice to that person. And, so I’m watching this girl, who isn’t shaped like a typical regional athlete and realizing that although she is FAR and AWAY more fit than me, there is no reason why I can’t endeavor and succeed with whatever I want to do, regardless of how I look or am shaped. And there is certainly no reason to put off trying and working on skills.

http://pinterest.com/pin/192669690282122846/

So, the past 5 weeks we’ve been doing the Granite Games and I signed up for the scaled division, because I am 100% a scaled athlete (and okay with that). And, I feel like my results really highlight the fact that you cannot look at a person and decide what they are able to do. You cannot write off someone’s potential. Because, what will happen is this normally shaped girl, who still struggles with gymnastic moves but refuses to give up on conquering them, will come in second for the scaled division at her box out of a great deal of very talented, and competitive athletes. This girl will stay top 3 on all the workouts except the last, because of those danged gymnastic moves, and even have a 1^st place finish in the workouts for her box. And while I may not know if I changed anyone's perceptions of my abilities, I certainly know I changed my own.

I may have a long way to go with some skills but I can’t be pigeonholed into expectations, not even by myself.

adulating

Inspire

3:04 PM

I’ve seen this trend over the last couple of years of choosing a word to focus on for the new year instead of a specific resolution. My dear friend brought it up this year and it got me thinking about what word I would choose.

Last year, although I didn’t specifically choose a word or set out to embrace any one idea, in hindsight the word is sort of obvious. “Self” is the word that best highlighted the changes I made last year. For a long time I didn’t treat myself right, I didn’t love myself right and I didn’t put in the time to take care of myself. So last year, I tried new things, I pampered myself, and I worked on loving myself for who I was in the moment and not who I used to be or who I wished I could be. Although on the surface “self” can seem like a selfish idea, I think it was a really important thing for me to focus on because I’m more than a wife or a mother and I needed to focus on myself to find out who I was becoming.

This year, after a lot of consideration on the things I love and care about, I decided that I really wanted to focus on the word “inspire”. I know that I struggle with the idea and want of “keeping up with the Joneses”. This is a dangerous rabbit hole to go down for so many reasons but namely because it is driven by jealousy. I don’t want to be driven by jealousy. But, if you change the focus and focus on those who inspire you and not those who you are jealous of, you flip the perception.

I want my focus on to be on those things and people that inspire me. As I’ve thought about this word, and thought about the inspiration in my life, I realized one pretty neat fact and that is that I don’t need to go far to look for inspiration. One thing I dedicate a lot of time too and care a lot about is crossfit and in my box there are many fierce females that inspire me in so many different ways. (The guys are awesome too but females just tend to inspire me more.)

Additionally, I want to look at my own actions and see how I can change them so that I’m not a negative person, so that I don’t evoke negative aspects in others and perhaps share a little inspiration. I don’t plan on going out of my way to inspire, but I do plan to dedicate my words and actions to more positivity so that I don’t demotivate others.

Last year had so many amazing points and I learned and changed so much by focusing on “self” so I can’t wait to see how my perspective changes and what else changes by focusing on inspiration and not jealousy.