What Do Crossfit, Texas and Motherhood Have in Common?

There have been many things in my life that have taught me perseverance and character but none as much as the three things listed above.

This morning less than halfway through my 16 minute workout, when was I short on oxygen and covered in sweat, I recognized that in that very moment character was being developed in me.

I wanted so badly to quit, to sit down and to throw my sucker in the dirt (figuratively...I wasn't really eating a sucker while I was doing double unders and wall balls).

Every part of it was hard. Especially the fact that my friends on either side of me were lapping me. As I struggled through the next 8+ minutes I realized how much my workouts parallel parenting and life.

Just under a year ago, we made the decision to pack up our family and move 800 miles away to a place where we knew no one. It has been what I heard a pastor recently described as a “brutiful“ year.... Brutal and beautiful all in one.

That’s exactly how I would describe my daily workouts for the past five years that I’ve been struggling through CrossFit. It’s brutal and I hate it, but yet every day I choose to go back.

Why is this?

Why do I gasp for breath, struggle not to pass out, and almost always finish in last place at my gym every day? Because I love the atmosphere, the people and the challenge of the daily workouts.

Why did we choose to make the sacrifice and take our kids away from family, friends and the only home they have ever lived in? Because we knew it was where we were called to go.

Why did I choose to give birth and experience that excruciating physical pain not once or twice but three times? Because I learned there was nothing I can love more than those three little human beings and they are my greatest accomplishments no matter what else I may do in this life.

My son told his dad the other night that he doesn’t want the easy way in life. That was a proud moment for me as a mom because I think far too often we try to sugarcoat life for ourselves and for those around us. Yet the most growth and the sweetest satisfaction comes from “brutiful” times where we dig deep and find out what we’re made of and how good it feels to push through.

As we approach a new month, I would encourage you to not only push through the hard stuff in your life but to grab it like you'd grab a bull by the horn‘s (as my cowboy husband would say). Embrace the challenge. It isn’t easy but once you persevere and get on the other side, nothing can take away that satisfaction.

Have a "brutiful" day!

~Amy

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