Easter Weekend Beatdown: the Stations of the Cross Workout F3antastic workout I devised to celebrate Jesus before a weekend of Egg hunts and over eating!
The Reason for the Season
The WARMUP 20 Side Straddle Hops 20 Harry triggers 14 Imperial Walkers 20 Cosack Squats
**Mosey to the School – Go down S Bedford. Right on West Pine Street.** 10 count for the Q to catch his breath. I explained there was a theme to this workout and there would be 14 stations, to see if the HIM could guess it.
The THANG Nur to station 1 1st Station: Jesus is condemned to death (50 Merkins) Nur to station 2 2nd Station: Jesus carries His cross (50 American Hammers. seated twists) Nur to station 3 3rd Station: Jesus falls for the first time 10 Burpees. Nur to end **PLANK FOR 6 The third F was broken up and this was the first portion, I explained that we were doing a Stations of the Cross workout, no one guessed it. Catholics love the stations of the cross.
Up next: 4th Station: Jesus meets his mother – Mary 4 minutes of Mary**
The Dolly – legs apart then together, legs straight, 6 inches off ground.
High Dolly(Rosalita) – Legs apart then together, legs straight
Dying Cockroach. Legs in sky, touch opposite foot, in cadance. ****
**• JAIL BREAK BACK to the starting point**
5th Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross Wheel Barrell to station 6
6th Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus (20 Big Boys)
Wheel Barrell to station 7 (bonus)
7th Station: Jesus falls for the second time (20 burpees)
Nur to Station 8 8th Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem 14 Air squats.
Nur to Station 9 9th Station: Jesus falls for the third time (30 Burpees)
10th Station: Jesus clothes are taken away (100 LBCs lil baby crunches)
11th Station: Jesus dies on the cross Bear Crawl to the Wall!
12th Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross (2 minute wall sit)
13th Station: Jesus is taken down from the cross (40 lunges)
14th Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb (50 push-ups)
Warm-up • The Cheerleader – 20 IC • Bat Wings o Arm Circles forward – 20 IC o Arm Circles backward – 20 IC o Seal Claps – 20 IC o Overhead Claps – 20 IC • Mountain Man Poopers 20 IC • Hairy Rockets 20 IC
The Thang: Mosey to Ace Hardware • Imperial Squat Walker-20 IC • Bear Crawl parking spot to next parking spot • Bobby Hurley 25 OYO • Lt. Dan to next parking line • 50 Merkins (10 diamond, 10 wide finger tips out, 10 Ranger, 10 wide tips forward, 10 plyo merkins) • Crawl Bear to next parking line • American Hammers – 25 IC • Walking lunge to next parking line • Double Shot Jackies – 25 OYO (burpee variation with plank jack and SSH) • Crab Walk across stones • Third F • Mosey around building • Iron Mikes – 12 IC • Marionettes – 10 each direction OYO (big boy sit up to left, center and right of feet) • Mosey to AO • Number-rama • Name-arama • COT
Message: Excerpt from David Goggins: Can’t Hurt Me Truth Hurts Call yourself out! Nobody likes to hear the hard truth. Individually and as a culture, we avoid what we need to hear most. Tell the truth about real reasons for your limitations and you will turn that negativity, which is real, into jet fuel. There is no more time to waste. Hours and days evaporate like creeks in the desert. That’s why it’s okay to be cruel to yourself as long as you realize you’re doing it to become better. We all need thicker skin to improve in life.
I brainwashed myself into craving discomfort. If it was raining. I would go run. Facing that mirror motivated me to fight through uncomfortable experiences.
In a society where mediocrity is too often the standard and too often rewarded, there is an intense fascination with men who detest mediocrity, who refuse to define themselves in conventional terms, and who seek to transcend traditionally recognized human capabilities. This is exactly the type of person they seek. The man who finds a way to complete each and every task to the best of his ability. The man who will adapt and overcome any and all obstacles.
Challenge 3 The first step in creating a calloused mind is stepping outside you comfort zone on a regular basis. Write down all the things you don’t like to do or that make you uncomfortable. Especially those things you know are good for you. Doing something that sucks every day. Doing things even small things that make you uncomfortable will make you strong. The more often you get uncomfortable the stronger you’ll become.
Like most battle we fight in life they are won or lost in our minds. Until you experience hardships like abuse and bullying, failures and disappointments, your mind will remain soft and exposed. Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mind can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one second impulses to give in so you can power through obstacles.
Grab a block and mosey to the dentist office. Pax completed 20 Merkins each side with one hand on the block. Pax utilized the block and a parking bumper to complete 20 abyss merkins. Pax completed a Lt Dan for approx. 50 yards utilizing the block before moseying to Shipbuilder’s entrance for American Hammers with the blocks (IC) as well as 20 Big Boy Sit-ups. Leaving that pain station each Pax completed a 50 Yard bear crawl with the block before moseying to the next pain station. At that station each Pax completed a Bolt 45 set with the block all in IC. All Pax woseyed down Willow Street with the block and then moseyed at the halfway point. When reaching the end of the street or the final pain station, each Pax completed 15 Blockees. Pax moseyed back to CHOP with their block.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe it’s just a Ron thing. But I hate to waste time or waste effort. You know? Here’s what that it looks like when I’ve just returned from the grocery store to restock our empty refrigerator and shelves. I basically look like a mule – yeah, with bags all over my body, carried on almost every appendage. I don’t want to make any more trips to the car than absolutely necessary, oh no, no! So I’m willing to try whatever calisthenics, to tolerate whatever overload will enable me to get everything in the house in one trip. This approach has been known to have its problems. Sometimes I drop a bag or two or one of them rips open; thus, making more work. And I’ve got this shoulder. Yeah, wrecked it pretty well. You think it might be traceable to carrying too much too many times?
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Why Your Load Seems So Heavy.”
There’s a price to pay for carrying too much at once. You might be paying some of that price right now; the stress, the anxiety, the fatigue, the frustration of those who carry more than they’re supposed to. I’m one of those. I know.
I also know how my Savior says I’m supposed to live. His instructions are very clear in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 6, beginning with verse 25. He says, “Do not worry about your life…look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them…Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?…Why do you worry?…Do not worry…your Heavenly Father knows what you need…Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
First of all, you don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to pick up Jesus’ message here. He basically says it four times, “Do not worry.” If you looked at us stressed out, freaked out, worn out warriors, you might conclude this is one of the most disobeyed commands Jesus ever gave. We do worry – a lot. And in so doing, we carry a heavier load than we’re designed and equipped to carry. God has promised to give us what we need to carry today: daily bread, strength equal to your day, mercies new every morning, a cross to bear one day at a time, the renewing of our spirit day by day. But there’s no promise about carrying your tomorrow while it’s still today.
John Newton, the writer of “Amazing Grace” said, “Sometimes I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of a year to a great bundle of sticks – far too large to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole bundle at once. He mercifully unties the bundle and gives us one stick that we are to carry today and then another that we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. We might easily manage it, if we would take only the burden appointed for each new day. But we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday’s stick over again today and by adding tomorrow’s burden to our load before we are required to bear it.” That’s great stuff!
John Newton nailed it. See, we add baggage from yesterday and the potential burdens of tomorrow to what we’re carrying today, and we start dropping things, and stumbling, and even hurting ourselves. So much of what we worry about tomorrow never happens. And you won’t have God’s promised resources to handle tomorrow until tomorrow. So no wonder you’re overwhelmed and discouraged! Dwelling on yesterday or tomorrow takes your focus off today so you don’t even do today very well!
So approach your load God’s way – take your busy life one day at a time, or maybe one stick at a time. That’s how you do a massive load. And about tomorrow? Take advantage of God’s awesome invitation, “Cast all your care upon Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
Warm-a-Rama 20 seal jacks i/c 20 seal wave i/c 10 hip circles oyo 15 mountain man pooper i/c 15 Windmill i/c
The Thang
Each HIM grabs a coupon Mosey to the old bank
10 chuck Norris merkin 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side 10 coupon merkin 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side 20 derkins 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side 30 urkins 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side
Capri lap around the parking lot
30 coupon flys, shoulders on the wall or curb 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side 30 coupon bench press, shoulders on the wall 5 kettle bell clean w/coupon per side Bolt 45, heels on curb 20 gas pumpers, coupon between knees
3rd F
Told my story if how I got into F3
Mosey back to AO
Round of Mary 10 X n O’s, Waterfall 25 4 count Freddie, Woodstock
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 20 IC
Mosey .5 miles to Oh Hill No !
The Thang
Pax completed the modified “HILL”denburg BLIMPS routine at Oh Hill No. We modified the sprint portion to a NUR up and run down Oh Hill No and perform 1st exercise, NUR back up Oh Hill No and run down and perform 1st exercise again. Plank it up until all PAX are in. That completes one round. Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds with the exercises as identified below are complete. Round # 1 – 10 Burpees, Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers. Round #4 – 40 Merkins. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats. Round #5 and Round #6 were completed back at the CHOP by those that had extra time.
Mosey .5 miles back to CHOP
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
John and Becky were gone when this huge windstorm hit their neighborhood recently. Although no one could be sure a tornado was involved, the winds were clocked at 70 miles an hour. John and Becky told me that when they returned later that day, their street was closed. A huge pine tree had been blown down, and it fell right across the road. Now other kinds of trees had lost some branches, but the wind had actually totally uprooted this evergreen. Well, a neighbor explained to John that it really isn’t that hard to uproot a pine tree – no matter how big it is. Because even though it’s a big tree, it has shallow roots – so it’s relatively easy to bring it down.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “Strong Storms And Shallow Roots.”
Now, there are a lot of “pine-tree-Christians”–some even big and beautiful Christians–who have shallow roots. And that’s why they keep falling.
Jesus talked about vulnerable believers in our word for today from the Word of God, Luke 6:46-49. He says, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock (or developed deep roots). When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears My words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation (or had shallow roots). The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Now, that’s two kinds of Christians–just like two kinds of trees: one with deep roots that can withstand a storm and one with shallow roots that gets felled by the storm. With the times we’re living in becoming more stressful and more uncertain–and even dangerous–it’s pretty important to be sure that your commitment to Jesus is deeply rooted.
Shallow spiritual roots come in several varieties. There’s environmental faith–the kind that is strong when you’re in your Christian world but caves in when you’re not. And then there’s second-hand faith. That’s a faith that isn’t really yours firsthand–it’s rooted in your parent’s Christianity, or your church’s faith, or your pastor’s faith, or your Christian friends. There isn’t much really going on directly between you and Jesus. That will never survive a storm.
Stagnant faith–that’s another form of shallow roots. Not much new has happened between you and Jesus for a long time, and consequently, He seems farther–He seems less real than He used to. And when a test or temptation hits, it won’t be enough to keep you standing. And one other kind of “shallow-roots-Christianity”–event faith–the kind that depends on the next spiritual event, the next high, the next big, Christian experience to keep you going. In between, you go into a deep valley. That kind of relationship with Christ is going down eventually.
Jesus’ parable about the two houses is a call to a strong foundation – to deep roots. And He tells us the difference between storm-proof and storm-wrecked faith. It’s not whether or not you know what He says. Both the man whose house stood and the man whose house fell, “heard” what Jesus said. The difference was putting what Jesus said into practice.
The question is, are you regularly getting into God’s word on you own–and then immediately going out and acting on what you read? It’s immediate assimilation of God’s words into real life situations that makes you a little stronger each day. So you read or listen to God’s Word asking these two questions: “What did God just say to me?” and “What am I going to do differently today because of what He said?”
And every time you do that, your roots go a little deeper into Jesus. Meetings won’t do it, theology won’t do it, a great Christian environment won’t do it. It comes from letting Jesus change you through His Word a little bit each day. That is spiritual reality. That is deep roots. The kind that will leave you standing strong no matter how fierce the storm.
Hairy Starfish? What’s with the title? Eh, nothing more than a reference to the typical “hair or the dog” (i.e. a revisit to some of yesterday’s March Merkin Madness with Ruxpin’s first respect! Q ) through YHC’s Starfish workout for today. Here’s how it went down…
First, PAX began with a lot of mumble chatter reflecting on yesterday’s brutality. But hey, they posted so YHC knows they’re up for more!
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
IW – 18 IC
OH Squat Press – 18 IC
Shoulder Tap Merkins – 10 IC (kinda hairy…)
Cherry Pickers – 18 IC (nice and slow, all the way up and clap)
Mosey to Arena’s parking lot…
THE THANG:
The Starfish: 5 cones set up around the parking lot like 5 legs of a starfish, with 1 in the middle. PAX will do specific exercise at each cone, returning to the center cone after each one to do 10 Burpees or 10 Burpjacks. Check it out:
Cone #1: 100 Merkins (Kinda hairy, do sets of 10, 20, 25 or whatever, til you get ’em done)
To center cone: 10 Burpees
Cone #2: 100 LBC’s
Center Cone: 10 Burpjacks
Cone #3: 100 Squats
Center Cone: 10 Burpees
Inserted 3rdF here (see write up below)
Cone #4: 100 Drydocks
Center Cone: 10 Burpjacks
Cone #5: 100 Dips
Center Cone: 10 Burpees
Mosey back to the AO, hitting a Prison Break from the corner…
Among other things, from warm-up to workout that’s a total of 220 Merkins & 50 Burpees
NUMBER-RAMA
COT:
Announcements: ShamRuck family ruck coming Fri. March 18 @ 6:17 pm (likely Georgetown, details TBA)
Prayers: For Bill Sammons and family, especially daughter Ira, fleeing Ukraine to Poland; for Blockbuster in Army Basic Training
Here’s your daily 3rdF:
I’ve been reminiscing a lot since Blockbuster left on Sunday to head to Basic Training at Ft. Jackson. Having served as well of course, I have lots of memories to reminisce about—1 in particular came to my mind as I thought of Blockbuster facing the unknowns and the fears that go along with them.
It had to do with the Lord’s Prayer: After lights-out on the very first night of Basic Training, the DS’s exited the barracks and we all laid there in the dark in total silence in our bunks, not sure what to do or whether to talk or not, etc. After a few minutes of a dark eternity I debated within my own head whether to say the Lord’s Prayer [out loud]. I feared whether anyone would join me. I feared forgetting the words and messing it up. Certainly this first day and night carried its own sort of fears too. Like, what the heck did I get myself into? Finally I just went for it:
Matthew 6:9-13
There in the dark barracks everyone else joined in the beautiful chorus of reciting the Lord’s Prayer together. It’s the Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Mt.6).
He taught them a model of the structure of prayer which was never meant to be a repetitive recitation (used over and over). But that night I think we recited it as a way of not only acknowledging and confessing our fears [corporately], but also of crying out to God with one voice to say that we needed Him in that hour, in the weeks ahead, and in the season to come. And there was an Esprit de corps in that room! It was one of those moments that brought with it the peace and confidence which only God could provide.
We all seemed to know after that that God would carry us through BECAUSE we called out to Him. As men we tend to be self-made and self-reliant (but oftentimes as a result, self-destructive too). In times when we fear the unknown or we’re uncertain of what we’ve gotten ourselves into, or especially in times when God has led us in a specific direction, it is time to call out to Him, maybe even cry out to Him—depending on the circumstances.
God always answers. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.” The disciples wanted to learn how to pray, how to call on God, so they asked. Many men think that it’s less than manly to cry out to Jesus, but from what I read it’s one of the manliest things we can do. I don’t know about you, but I’ve discovered over the years that I can’t make it on my own. That’s why I’m grateful we have each other in this circle, but we also need to call on God. Lean one each other, yes! but more than that we must lean on the Lord. So man up and call on God; it’s what HIM do. He always answers.
Always grateful to bring the grit to the Grit Mill. Appreciate the PAX who posted for 2-in-a-row and downed a little hair of the dog–starfish style!
Blockbuster with his Swag – Proud of our Army Bound Young BrotherProud Dad20 Straight Workouts for Ruxpin – The man’s a beast on the verge of getting even more RESPECT
Date: 02/26/2022
AO: Aegis, Georgetown, DE
QIC: Fireplex
Warm up
SSH – 25 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Monkey Humpers – 15 IC
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats full up to half way down, 15 squats half way down to full down, & 15 squats full motion. All completed IC as a 4 count.
Windmills – 20 IC
The Thang
Mosey to Ruby Slippers home for a robust round of 20 monkey humpers followed by a round of merkin Jax. Merkin Jax are a 1:4 ratio of I merkin to 4 plank jacks followed by 2 merkins to 8 plank jacks continuing until reaching the 10:40 ratio. It types easier than it really is…????..
F3 message before leaving the first pain station.
Mosey to the Georgetown Elementary School and completed a deconstructed toy soldier set that 50 LBC’s, 30 E2K’s each side, and 20 big boys. Nur to each sidewalk across the front completing the 50 lbc’s, then 30 E2K’s, then a second set of 30 E2K’s opposite side, and finally the 20 big boys. Rinse and repeat and return to the starting sidewalk.
Mosey to Georgetown Public Library where all PAX completed a round of Captain Thor – 1 Big Boy sit up to 4 American hammers in a ratio up to 10:40.
Mosey to the Armory steps and complete Aiken legs – 20 squats, 20 box jumps, 20 lunges (10 each Leg), 20 Iron Mike’s (10 each Leg). The twist is that each PAX will box jump up each step up of the armory and walk down each step before performing each individual exercise of Aiken Legs.
Mosey back to AEGIS for Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers. Please keep Blockbuster in your thoughts and prayers as he leaves for Army boot camp. Congrats to Ruxpin for completing 20 straight workouts and joining the RESPECT crowd on 2/28/22.
They’re some of the best of the best in America’s military. They’re known as the Navy Seals. And when there’s a mission that’s almost impossible, they send the Seals behind enemy lines, or maybe it’s a highly sensitive covert mission, against enormous odds. They’re trained in just about any military skill you can think of. In fact, their training was the subject of a cover story in a national magazine a while back; especially that brutal final week that decides who will and will not be a Navy Seal.
Cold, and wet, and fatigued, there’s pain, there’s a pace that are more than most human beings could bear. And some might call it cruel and extreme. But the Navy is trying to prepare these men for heroism. They say they’re trying to build men who learn one mindset that is often the difference between a hero and a zero. Turn off the pain and focus on the mission.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Mission and the Pain.”
Here’s our word for today from the Word of God – 2 Timothy 2:1. God says, “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” See, God doesn’t need any more spiritual wimps. That’s why He’s calling for warriors here. And in verse 4 He says, “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer.”
Well, what does that take? Verse 3: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Endurance: staying with the mission even when you’re hurting. Those Navy Seals do it for their country. We do it for our Savior. Our mission is to be like Jesus so the people in our world can get a good look at what He’s like. And to be His personal representative to people who are lost and needy and have no hope for eternity without Him.
There’s one problem though. Instead of turning off the pain and focusing on the mission, our tendency is to focus on our pain and forget our mission, and put the work of the Lord at the mercy of how we’re feeling. When we’re hurting, let’s face it, we usually get pretty self-focused don’t we? We’re consumed with our survival, our needs, our hurt. And that’s natural. It’s understandable, but it’s unacceptable for a soldier of Jesus Christ.
No matter how great the pain was, He never abandoned His mission; not when His family turned against Him, not when the crowds turned against Him, not when His life was threatened, not when He was arrested or beaten or humiliated or nailed to a cross. Even when He was dying, Jesus was looking out for His mother. He was reaching out to a dying thief, He was forgiving His crucifiers.
We will never begin to face the pain that our leader did. But we do have our share of pain. Here’s the question: Do we retreat from what we’ve been doing for the Lord when it gets hard or when we’re hurting? Are we so full of our own agenda that we shut down to the needs of others? Do we quit when it’s dark?
If you forget your mission because of your pain, you can still belong to Jesus. His love for us is unconditional. This isn’t about His love for you. It’s about your love and service for Him. He wants to trust you with some heroic assignments for Him. He’s got so much to be done! He’s looking for heroes like the song says, “Jesus needs a few good men.” And I might say, “a few good women.”
In the rigors of your life right now the training and testing of Jesus are not to hurt you. They’re not to sink you. They’re His tools to make you a warrior. To strengthen you. to prepare you for a great work for Him. So be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
14 PAX hit THE button to win that first battle and posted for something Postal. Here’s how QIC Chappie broke it down…
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
IW – 18 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
Crab Flippers – 18 IC (a local favorite)
Low Slow Squat – 18 IC
MOSEY/WOSEY TO POST OFFICE: Litter-Carry the Sandbags – 1 40lb & 1 20lb (60lbs total per littler). PAX have to work together…tiny synchronized steps fellas, tiny synchronized [double-time] steps.
Stations
THE THANG: (Count off by 4’s = 4 teams, 3 PAX each, with 2 remaining PAX to start in the middle)
2 PAX at a time will rotate into middle: 10 Sandbag Burpees
Other PAX located around the circle at 4 STATIONS:
Curb-side Shoulder Tap Merkins 5/5 (Rinse & Repeat, AMRAP)
20lb Jump Squats (feet in/feet out) AMRAP Word on the street: This one was an unexpected killer!
Each time 2 PAX IN MIDDLE COMPLETED SANDBAG BURPEES, TEAMS ROTATED WITH FULL LAP TO NEXT STATION (New PAX goes to middle)
GOAL: Get all PAX thru SB Burpees at least once. (goal accomplished)
Mosey/Wosey back to AO, litter-carrying the sandbags (free-loaders!)
Good Problems: More Q’s equal less QIC opportunities, so YHC was glad to get back in the saddle at the CHOP AO. Always eager, Aye!
COT:
Announcements: Watch the horizon for a leadership pow-wow. Planting locations to be discussed. Planning for Memorial Day mini CSAUP, etc.
Prayers: YHC lifted up several requests: Fireplex’s dad; Nugget’s aunt’s family; employee and friend of Woodstock, Rob, recovery and healing from brain surgery. Most of all that God would allow us and empower to be HIM, superior to our younger self, in our homes, workplaces and the communities in which we serve. (For more details check out the 3rdF below – conspicuously shared after our 3rd round.)
Chappie, out!
3rdF Shared After the 3rd Round:
Earnest Hemingway said, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
For anyone who’s got a competitive nature, which is just about every man I know, that might sound bit counter-intuitive (my favorite words this week for some reason). I mean, who doesn’t strive to run farther and faster than the other guy? Who doesn’t want to have their hand raised in the center of the ring/mat as victor after a hard-fought battle for superiority? Who doesn’t want to blow their competition out of the proverbial water? Yet Hemingway says, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
I think we might understand better what Hemingway was getting at if we rephrase his statement using F3 terminology: “It’s you against you!”
Now if we tend to think about that only in terms of physical superiority, eventually we’re going to come up short. I’d like to think at age 54, I can still kick the tail of the younger version of myself–shoot, that’s part of what motivates me to workout with you guys and why I’m thankful for F3! But truth be told, eventually I’m going to age-out of being able to do that physically. I don’t know where that line is or when I’ll cross it, but eventually I know I will.
The same is true whether we’re talking about superiority over others or ourselves. And, again, just in terms of physicality there will always be some other competitor who is superior. Yes, we can (and should) engage in healthy competition, it sharpens us. But in terms of being superior to your former self, and, it being “you against you,” the superiority must also (and even more so) include your character and your nature. It must include superiority over yourself in terms of mind, will, emotions AND SPIRITUALITY!
Are you stronger than your former self?
Are you better at handling your finances than your former self?
…better at raising your kids than your former self?
…better at loving others than your former self?
…a better husband than your former self?
…a better employee or employer than your former self?
Are you better at handling your anger or other emotions than your former self?
Are you wiser than your former self?
…more patient than your former self?
…more faithful/faith-filled than your former self?
…more enduring than your former self?
Are you a better leader than your former self?
And the list goes on…
You see, the comparison between you and others is more often than not out-of-place, and it’s utterly misguided and misguiding! The real competition is within. We CANNOT compare ourselves with others. The comparison is actually more personal. “True nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Galatians 6:4 says “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”
Today, in your home, in your workplace, and in the community in which you serve, work on being superior to your former self. It’s you against you!
F3 is the place to be, for both you and me. Nobody here forces you to do what you do. We are here to help, not only when you yelp but also in our daily lives, for those things you can’t tell your wives. It’s time to get this show on the road, before our energy gets forever slowed.
Warm up
25 Cherrypickers, 25 Side straddle hops, 25 windmills
Mosey to ACE parking lot to do 25 merkins, 25 big boys, carry weights while others planked or bear crawled behind you, 25 jump squats, wall sit for 2 minutes, dead cockroach for 2 minutes, mosey to CHOP for Circle Burp and ended with 25 (3 count) flutterkicks.
