Death to the #BluePill

“So let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” ~ Galatians 6:9

Since the #BRR last year, YHC has been “out of it”. Damn near taking the #bluepill in fact. YHC still signed up to do the hard things because they were there…Goruck Challenge, P200, etc. But instead of thriving and improving, YHC was just existing. Meeting the bare standard or being the #fleshanchor, in mind or in some cases actuality.

Everything in life has ebbs and flows, but you can still control it if you want. The past few months has been an ebb for me and I didn’t control it. Was I still trying to motivate others? Yes. Was I still showing up in the gloom? Yes. Was I pushing MYSELF to #getbetter? NO. Even though I was there, I was complacent. I’d hang at the back or middle and socialize during bootcamp. Pushing myself slightly, but not to my full potential.

Then I read the above verse in a devotional about motivation. In a nutshell, you can’t stay motivated all the time. You just can’t. What you CAN do though, is make a COMMITMENT. We do it in numerous arenas of our life. Marriage, work, faith. You can be married and go through the motions, but unless you are COMMITTED, your marriage will lack luster. You can work your job and “make the donuts” on a daily basis and have it work, but you won’t progress unless you are COMMITTED. You can go to church every week and hear the sermons, even volunteer on some committees, but your soul is still in jeopardy unless you are COMMITTED to your faith. The same goes with F3. You can show up, defy #cantorre, fellowship with the pax, but unless you are COMMITTED, you will remain a half of a #sadclown and won’t #getbetter.

My #momentofzen was on the P200 this year. YHC had EH’d a few folks to do the P200 that at the time, weren’t ready for it. They trained. YHC trained with them, but not to the best of my ability. As the P200 got underway, YHC started seeing their times roll in. After YHC’s first leg, it was painfully obvious…the only person on the team that had done the P200 or relays at all (me), was the #fleshanchor. There’s always going to be a #fleshanchor, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. YHC just didn’t imagine it would be him. That realization lit my pilot light.

What turned the pilot light into a full on fire was Twitter last night. Pax in Columbia, Lex, and Irmo are gearing up for a Goruck Light Custom in May (only a few weeks away). While we’re working on a rotating schedule, we were initially going to have 2 bootcamps that were #ruckfriendly today. Just by chance. Complaints started rolling in on Twitter. At first, the bellows started pumping the fire, and then it got hot enough to melt steel. Why? Partially because pax were actually complaining about workouts, yet our Q signups are struggling. Second, because it means YHC was NOT doing his job as a leader and invigorating male leadership. Folks aren’t stepping up to lead, they are only following. If you don’t like the kind of workouts you’re getting, LEAD. If the workout doesn’t involve cardio and you want cardio, LEAD or show up early and get your cardio in. FYI pax, there’s run groups that meet Mon, Wed, Fri, EVERY week without fail. Plenty of cardio there.

Part of it is that some pax don’t “get” Goruck. YHC can understand that. But a workout is what you make of it. If you don’t have a ruck on, and most of the rest do, you can’t push yourself to the bring with every exercise we do? Why not? You should be able to do twice what a rucker is doing with no luggage on your back. What’s your excuse? If you don’t understand it, maybe you can glean something from HeeHaw’s experiences: http://f3nation.com/2015/03/24/my-goruck-experience/.

Which leads me to my next ramble: COMPLACENCY. YHC has noticed a lot of it lately, particularly in himself. We have 4 AO’s all within about 20-30 minutes of each other. If you don’t like the workouts at one, why can’t you take yourself to another? Oh, does that mean you have to wake up a few minutes earlier? Wah. That’s not how you #getbetter. YHC has seen some folks make AMAZING transformations. That’s right JD, I’m talking about you. #rockstar. YHC has also seen folks make no transformation at all; they show up, half ass it, and never #getbetter. Dredd told someone once: “If you want to run faster, run with faster people.” I agree completely. But you also have to be COMMITTED to running faster. If you don’t want to #getbetter, that’s your business. But if you don’t like what’s being served at an AO, step up yourself, or find another AO. It’s that simple. You want cardio and the workout isn’t offering it? Join a run group Mon, Wed, or Fri. Join a jazzercise class, YHC doesn’t care. But don’t expect someone else to give it to you; be a man, be a leader, and seek out what your needs are. Take that freakin #redpill.

So YHC challenges you: Don’t let me take the #bluepill anymore. Help me to take my dose of #redpill every day and be a #HIM and not a #Mascot. CALL. ME. OUT. Just because the old Crash was a badass at one point doesn’t give YHC a lifelong pass. Do it for those around you. YHC will do the same for you and make us both better for it. #ACCOUNTABILITY.