Keep Searching.

Since I was young I have always been active.  Whether it was soccer, track, basketball, running or volleyball I constantly had something going on.  I would go to practices, work my ass off and when those were over I’d go do another workout for fun. I always wanted more.

Junior year of high school I reached out to a coach at West, Visney, and asked for workouts.  He told me “if you want it bad enough, you’ll be here every morning ready to go”.  My entire Junior and Senior year of high school I wanted it bad enough.  I would show up for core workouts at 5:45AM, go to school, have practice after school, and from practice I would go straight to do another workout.  It was never enough though. Something was missing.  

Even being good at a sport wasn’t enough for me.  My junior year, I was a starting player on the varsity volleyball team.  I took a seniors position and found myself getting recognized frequently for my performance on the court.  I knew I had the ability and skill to play in college but again… something was missing.

My senior year, I made it to state for polevault and after being in that atmosphere; decided I wanted continue into college.  Two weeks into fall training… I quickly changed my mind.  I quit and beat myself up about it because like always… something was missing.  But I wanted to know WHAT was missing, and WHY.

What was missing was my passion.

All these sports were amazing, and I had a blast playing them.  I loved the process of getting better, I loved being part of a team, and I absolutely loved my coaches.  But even with the end result, I never felt completely fulfilled.

If you want to see true passion look up Chris Powell, and just watch one of his episodes.  He can’t help but to explode with excitement and THAT is an incredible thing to have. To have so much passion for something you can’t help but expose it in every aspect of your life.  The best part about this is, everyone is able to experience that. Everyone has their “thing”, their “wow”, their “high”. 

I remember my first CrossFit workout perfectly.  I dragged my great friend and one of my biggest supporters, Zack King, to the box with me. For whatever reason, I was so incredibly nervous I couldn’t go on my own.  Maybe I should have been nervous about how much it would change my life, but I didn’t know that at the time. Right after the workout, I thought, “I think I drank the kool aid. I’m hooked” and I haven’t looked back a day since.  I thought, perhaps this is my passion… but I didn’t know for sure.  I knew it would take more time to really see it I liked it for ALL it was.  I can now say, CrossFit is my passion.  It is my wow, it is my thing, it is my high.

CrossFit has kicked me to my butt more times than I can count.

It has made me fail.

It has made me succeed.

It has allowed me to better myself.

It has allowed me to better others.

It has given me the ability to utilize my college studies.

It has given me the ability to release my inner child.

It has provided me friendships.

It has provided me an outlet.

It has left me in tears of pain.

It has left me in tears of happiness.

Through all of this, the fire it burns within me has never died. I wake up every morning with the same drive, desire, and curiosity about CrossFit that I went to bed with, if not stronger.  THIS is passion.

I found the missing piece.

I’m not telling you CrossFit is the answer for all.  However, there IS an answer for all.  Everyone has a CrossFit. A passion that has divided their life in two… the time before this & the time after this. Some of us may have found it, while other may still be looking.  Some of us may be trying to convince ourselves that what were doing is our passion, when maybe deep down we know its not… I did. We all deserve to find that thing that fires us up. However, it’s not going to fall in our laps – we need to keep searching.

If you’re doing something that doesn’t fire you up, if you’re stuck in a rut, if you think you’re convincing yourself you found it, when maybe its not really it – I challenge you to try something new.  To stop settling for mediocrity, and seek true passion.

If you’ve found it – I challenge you to share it with 2 new people each week. Tell them your story!  They’ll love to hear.

I am a person who does something 100% and with all their heart. I always felt as though I had one foot in and one foot still searching.  This teeter-totter feeling towards things I worked hard at and spent so much time at used to drive me crazy but I can honestly say, I thank myself everyday.  I thank myself everyday for continuing to search.  For being open for change and ready for impact.  For not settling with this feeling of “eh”.

Ya see, we all deserve it. We deserve to have a story. A story to tell a stranger.  One that lights us up, helps us grow, and gives us life. So, if we haven’t found it I simply challenge you to…   

KEEP SEARCHING.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

— Howard Thurman,