Comfort in the Uncomfortable

A little over a week ago, I attended the third annual Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) Research Day. This afternoon serves to highlight and celebrate the research of our recently-matched and ready-to-graduate fifth-year students and also brings together nearly all 160 CCLCM students and numerous faculty for a lecture in memory of Iva Dostanic MD, PhD, CCLCM Class of 2011. This year’s lecture strayed from a traditional research presentation in order to feature scenes from the 1999 Pulitzer-prize winning drama Wit, interspersed with narrations by its author Margaret Edson. For a little over an hour I watched the unraveling of the play’s lead character Vivian Bearing, a renowned English professor being treated in a research hospital for stage four ovarian cancer. As we witnessed the juxtaposition of characters clinging to their professional identities of professors, physicians, and scientists with the slowly increasing exposure of Professor Bearing’s vulnerability, Margaret explained her motivations for crafting the play in such a manner. She explained how she envisions every person to have three different “selves.” First, we have a busy self – this is the self that most people identify with for the majority of their lives. This busy self is the self that is doing, accomplishing, earning, pleasing – creating and maintaining an identity recognized by the outside world. Margaret refers to our physical self as our slimy self – most of the time this self operates on its own, and in the case of a malfunction doctors and scientists are tasked with its repair. Margaret finally describes the true self, the self that remains when one day both the busy self and the slimy self have gone. She describes that for most individuals, the busy self predominates; however, in brief moments we are afforded a glimpse of our true selves.  In Wit, Margaret strips Professor Bearing of both her busy self and slimy self – confined to a hospital bed with scientists bustling about her as if her body is nothing more than a research specimen, Professor Bearing fights to cling to her busy self identity until at last, in the final scenes before her death, she relents and allows the exposure of her true self.  In her narration, Margaret describes the necessity  of this terrible struggle in order for Professor Bearing to experience her true self, if even for only a few moments before her death. Painful as it was to watch Professor Bearing’s suffering in these final moments, Margaret argues that it would have been far more tragic had she died according to her own heroic dream- reaching for a book on the top shelf at the library – having never been challenged to discover and embrace her true self.

Professor Bearing clings to her “busy self” identity while surrounded by physicians and scientists assessing her “slimy self.”

As I reflect on this performance and some recent discussions I’ve had, I realize how closely this dramatization resembles the experience of most individuals in our culture. We proceed through life so preoccupied with our busy selves that it often requires a wake up call in the form of a threat to our busy selves  (losing a job or particular role we play) or our slimy selves (an illness) for us to stop and spend a few moments connecting with our true selves. Even in this situation, we often we grasp for our busy or slimy self identities to prevent the exposure of our true selves. I can’t imagine how frightening such a dramatically life-changing event must be on its own, but facing this event while simultaneously meeting one’s true self for the first time would likely prove much more disorienting and overwhelming, in my mind.

Margaret Edson narrates scenes from Wit, her Pulitzer-prize winning play at the 2013 CCLCM Research Day.

So, how can we try to touch base with our true selves prior to such an event so that we may be better prepared to handle the threats to our busy or slimy selves that will undoubtedly ensue? One approach lies in distracting our other selves such that we permit our true selves to shine through, and I’d like to propose the argument that walking into a CrossFit affiliate allows us to do just that. One of the many reasons I love walking into a CrossFit affiliate is that entering inside those four walls forces us to abandon our busy selves. Inside a CrossFit affiliate, no one knows or cares whether you are a world-renowned physician, researcher, English professor, mother, musician etc – all that matters is that you are there, ready to work hard to move better, improve your fitness, and support those around you to do the same.  While normally we cling to our busy identities, a CrossFit affiliate provides a safe space for us all to let go and take on the identity of an athlete.  While it may be true that CrossFit forces us to focus on our slimy (or physical) selves through exercise, I’d like to propose that by taking our bodies to the limits of their capabilities as we do in CrossFit, we lose the ability to maintain complete control over our slimy selves, and this effort transcends the physical to the mental and emotional.  Any CrossFitter can identify with a moment when your body has failed, forcing you to stand gasping for breath over your barbell near the end of a workout. You have 5 reps left, and you’re starting to question whether you will finish. You can hear the words of encouragement from your trainer and peers somewhere off in the distance, and in that moment you make the decision to step back to your barbell and keep forging ahead. It is in these moments, which happen every single day in CrossFit affiliates around the world, that individuals are stripped of their so-called busy and slimy selves and stand face-to-face with their true selves.

Professor Bearing starts to expose her “true self” while speaking with her nurse.

It is in a brief moment in Wit when Professor Bearing connects with her research resident that ultimately  allows her to begin to expose her true self.  In her narration, Margaret emphasizes the importance of human connection in discovering our true selves in the midst of the chaos of our lives, a theme we are again no stranger to in the CrossFit community. Not only does CrossFit strip us of our busy and slimy selves, but it allows us to do so in the presence of others, facilitating the connection with our fellow human beings and thus allowing us to make sense of our crazy, chaotic lives.

Dr. Martin Kohn, Director of the CCLCM Program in Medical Humanities, Scenes from Wit Director Katherine Burke, Actor Prof. Catherine Albers, and Playwright Margaret Edson reflect on the Scenes from Wit performance.

By providing this opportunity, CrossFit regularly forces us to ask our true selves questions such as “Who am I?”, “What am I made of?”, and “How am I going to approach the challenges that life brings?” As we gain this insight, we are better equipped to embrace our true selves and more fully understand the meaning and purpose of our lives. When faced with a threat to our busy or slimy selves in the future, such an understanding of our true selves will better prepare us to face these challenges with resilience and grace.

Thank you to Laureen Nemeth for the photos used in this post.

“How do you balance medical school and CrossFit?” This is the one question to which it seems everyone wants to know the answer. I usually just smile or laugh and remark with a similar expression of perplexity, “I don’t know either – I’m still trying to figure it out!” I could talk about time management tips and strategies for maximizing efficiency, but those who are close to me know that I am far from mastering any of these skills. The truth of the matter is that in my experience, more importantly than time management, achieving balance begins with defining reasonable goals.

Last year, I entered medical school at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine with a goal of also competing in the 2012 CrossFit Games. With a good understanding of the first-year curriculum, I knew that it would be possible to dedicate the necessary time to training while still fulfilling my medical school requirements. Knowing that the path toward these two tasks I was simultaneously attempting to surmount would be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining, it was also important for me to spend time reflecting on why I wanted to pursue each one. As the year progressed, this reflection would prove invaluable as I reminded myself of these reasons with each moment of doubt, frustration, or exhaustion along the way, empowering me to steadily press forward.  The incredible support of family and close friends in and out of the gym also kept me focused and reminded me of what is truly most important in life.

Based purely on my own limited experience, here is my best advice for achieving balance:

1. Identify your goals and what motivates you, deep down, to achieve them. Why do you want to compete in the CrossFit Games? Or pursue a particular degree, or job? Will this reason be enough to sustain you when the path toward this goal becomes dark and windy?
2. Decide how much time you have to dedicate to each goal. No matter who you are, there are only 24 hours in a day. My engineering degree is more than a year old now, but I can still do this math: the more goals you have, the less time you have to spend on each one. Family, friends, jobs, etc are all important – prioritize and make sure you spend time on the things that matter most to you.
3. Work like crazy with the time you have dedicated to each goal to reach and surpass it. Give 100% effort to whatever you are doing in each moment of time.*
4. Have reasonable expectations.  If you only dedicate 3 hours per week to training, no matter how hard you work during those 3 hours it might be unreasonable to expect to stand on top of the podium at next year’s CrossFit Games (but hey, who’s to say?).
5. Avoid the temptation to compare yourself to others who have completely different lives and sets of goals. If you are dedicating 3 hours per week of training it would be hard to compare yourself to another athlete in the CrossFit Games Open or Regionals who has the luxury of putting in 15 hours.  Stand firm in your original motivations and the goals you set for yourself and celebrate each of your personal accomplishments.
6. Take time to reflect. As you work steadily toward your goals, it is important to periodically stop and notice your progress. Notice whether your goals or motivations have changed, and re-direct as necessary.

     *Note: This in itself is a lofty goal and one that I struggle most with!

Now comes the hard part: it is time to take my own advice. As I look toward the upcoming year, I again must define my goals and ask myself why I am choosing to pursue each one. This second year of medical school is a critical one in my program, with increased classroom commitments and a significant demand to prepare for the first medical board exam in June. As I pursue my goal of becoming the best physician I can be, this year stands out as one that will lay the groundwork for caring for patients in the future. Recognizing the importance of this goal and the time commitment  necessary to pursue it, I know that this year it must be prioritized above others, including competing in the 2013 CrossFit Games. As much as it pains me to consider not competing in the sport I love, that has become a part of who I am and who I aspire to become, I know that in this particular year, I have another goal that has to take precedence. I have considered every possibility (believe me, every possibility), and I have decided that rather than giving half an effort to medical school and half an effort to the CrossFit Games this year, I must shift my focus to dedicating a full effort to school and the board exam.

The USMLE Step 1 – My 2013 CrossFit Games

It is important to set our goals high and to push ourselves beyond what we think we are capable of so that we may ultimately reach our full potential.  I believe it is also important to remember that we are human – and that some goals are just too important to sacrifice. I would never want to look back on this year and my career and wonder whether I could have done better had I not been distracted by training for the CrossFit Games. This year my goal is to crush the USMLE Step 1 exam, and in order to reach my full potential in this endeavor I know it requires me to sacrifice training for the 2013 CrossFit Games. But don’t you worry – I’ve still got my eye on the top of the podium in 2014, and training for that particular goal starts today. 

Well, this post is certainly long overdue – the whirlwind of starting back at school has kept me busy these past 2 weeks! Much more reflection on my experience training for and competing at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games is to come, but I must start by expressing my gratitude for all of the people who have supported and enabled me to follow my dream this year. What you don’t see during that single week in July are all of the moments during the other 51 weeks of the year that make that performance possible. This year, more than ever, I have learned that although it is important to be strong and determined oneself, it is equally important to know when to lean on others. I have been fortunate enough to have leaned on more than a few people this year, and I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am for their support:

My training partner a.k.a lifesaver, Sarah

My training partner – without her sweating by my side, every single day, I simply don’t know how I could have kept going!

My family – for always encouraging me to do what I love, and loving me no matter what I do

My amazing boyfriend – I think he deserved to be standing up on that podium more than me for what I put him through this year!

The men of my life- Dad, Boyfriend, and Coach

My coach, Doug Chapman – who is much more than a coach, and who brought me from here to the podium in three years. Embarrassing as it is for me, I think this video illustrates that he had his work cut out for him

HyperFit USA Crew in LA

My HyperFit USA family  – for everything over the past 3 years, you guys really are like family

My new CrossFit pals in Cleveland – thank you for welcoming me into your community and for your support and friendship

Training buddies!

My training buddies Shana, Christy, Nicole, and many more – through MANY moments of shared suffering, you girls keep me going!

My school – thank you to faculty, friends, and fellow students who have supported me and allowed me to chase my dream this year

Reebok - for continually striving for improvement while staying true to what CrossFit is all about

Every staff member, volunteer, judge, etc who made the Games possible – Thank you for your passion and dedication to what you do, and for allowing us athletes to have the time of our lives out there

The CrossFit community – for your enthusiasm and energy. To every single person who sent me a message or cheered me on- your support means the world to me!

Reebok, Rx Jump Ropes, and PurePharma – thank you for your support and for your innovation and mission to make people better

And to the man who started it all, thank you for changing all of our lives forever and for enabling us to make the world a better place each and every day!

Coach Greg Glassman

As I look toward this weekend, my excitement is building for CrossFit for Hope. In my first post I wrote about the connections we make through CrossFit that allow us to  elevate not only each other but the community as a whole. With so much attention focused on the CrossFit Games this time of year, CrossFit for Hope provides a timely reminder of what the Sport of Fitness is really all about- – coming together to make one another and the world around us better.

We have a truly amazing and unique community that continues to grow by the day. There were 0ver 60,000 participants in the Open this year – pretty remarkable! Now it is time to harness the power of this community to support  a great cause. The beneficiary of CrossFit for Hope,  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, epitomizes what I aspire to be a part of as a developing physician researcher – providing the very best patient care and constantly striving to expand the boundaries of medicine.  We have a chance this weekend to support St. Jude’s mission of finding cures to cancer and childhood diseases through treatment and research. Just think – if every participant in the Open were able to raise just $30, we would surpass our goal of $1.7M.

This is what it’s all about, people. Sign up, do the workout, at the very least make whatever donation you are able to your box or someone you know.  I look forward to fighting through the Hope workout and supporting this cause on Saturday with all of you!

Having recently turned in my first-year summative portfolio (what we do at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine [CCLCM] in lieu of exams and grades), I can’t help but reflect on how this unique system of evaluation has changed my outlook and afforded me tremendous growth during this first year of medical school. “No exams and no grades?,” people often remark when I explain our curriculum, “Sounds like a pretty sweet deal!” While the true ways in which this system is “pretty sweet” may not be so apparent on the surface, they are many-fold and offer insight into what may be a much more fulfilling approach to life (once the initial discomfort is accepted, of course).

From a very young age, I, like many others, have been conditioned to strive for perfection. Whether in school trying to please teachers and earn perfect grades or at gymnastics practice performing movements over and over again so that my routines might score just a tenth of a point closer to a “perfect 10,” I always focused on the most minute details to be sure that I gave my best effort in every endeavor. I thought that as long as I studied hard enough or practiced long enough, “perfection” would be within my grasp. While this approach did me well in the sheltered environment of my primary school years, once set loose into the real world and exposed to the vastness of knowledge and possibility, I quickly realized I had neither the time nor the energy to embark upon such a comprehensive quest for perfection in each avenue I wanted to explore. Because in college grades provided the single most visible measure of my abilities, I began to channel my perfectionist tendencies toward my transcript. Trying to hang on to the possibility of perfection by dedicating myself to this single endeavor with such an important outcome, I would often find myself settling for a less-than-perfect effort in other areas such as extra-curricular activities or spending time with friends and family. As each semester passed and the amount of information to learn and assignments to complete continued to grow exponentially, I also found myself losing touch with the pleasure of learning for the sake of learning and sometimes even sacrificing my own true understanding of material in pursuit of perfect grades. However, these grades provided a false sense of satisfaction – though I walked away from many an exam feeling confused and defeated, upon receiving a grade I considered satisfactory I never again considered returning to my books to clear up my previous qualms – I was too busy studying for the next exam to earn the next grade. Perhaps these grades, in addition to disproportionally shifting my efforts toward only one aspect of my life, masked many of my weaknesses and hindered me from making further improvements.

What’s in a grade, anyway?

Enter medical school: no grades, no exams, and the analogy “drinking water from a fire hose” could not be more true. The amount of information to learn, shadowing and volunteer experiences to be had, and research projects to conjure up seemed endless from day one. Students who have been conditioned to strive for perfection their entire lives are suddenly overwhelmed with the impossibility of learning it all, and gone is the opportunity to feel even a slight sense of validation for our efforts by earning an “A” on an exam. However do these type-A’s cope with such a situation? From my experience, the answer lies in gaining comfort with recognizing and unmasking our weaknesses and in acceptance that balance across many domains trumps perfection in just one – a.k.a, the portfolio system.

Instead of the traditional system of exams and grades, the CCLCM implements a portfolio system in which students evaluate their own progress in 9 separate competencies: research, medical knowledge, communication, professionalism, clinical skills, clinical reasoning, personal development, health care systems, and reflective practice. Incorporating feedback provided by faculty and peers throughout the year, we assess our progress toward achieving the standards in each of these competencies and devise realistic strategies for making improvements.

In the above description, you will notice that medical knowledge provides only ONE of the 9 competencies in which we are assessed. The portfolio system recognizes the equal importance of each of these areas in the development of physician researchers and does not allow us as students to neglect any one in exchange for deeper pursuit of another. Sound familiar? CrossFit also recognizes that in order to achieve optimum physical competence, one’s ability must be distributed evenly among “10 General Physical Skills” – cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. We concede that as CrossFitters we may not achieve the level of stamina displayed by an Olympic triathlete or the strength of a world-class powerlifter, but we are willing to make those sacrifices in order to maintain balanced physical abilities. In much the same way, as physician-researchers-in-training, we recognize that we may not have the degree of knowledge in any given subject area as a Ph.D. researcher or the understanding of health care systems of health policy makers, but we are willing to sacrifice striving for such a degree of perfection in any one of these areas in order to be competent in the many areas that allow us to successfully care for patients and improve the field of medicine. For individuals conditioned to strive for perfection, this is not an easy task at first – it requires us to step back and evaluate our goals.

The CCLCM portfolio system and CrossFit – recognizing that balance across many areas may be better than perfection in just one

Could I be better at Olympic lifting? Yes, probably, if I spent all of my time practicing Olympic lifting. But what is my goal? My goal is to achieve optimum physical competence, therefore I cannot afford to spend all of my time practicing Olympic lifting while neglecting development of other areas such as endurance and stamina.

Could I achieve greater breadth and depth of medical knowledge? Absolutely, if I spent all of my time pouring over my textbooks and memorizing every word. But what is my goal? My goal is to become an excellent physician researcher, so my medical knowledge will be useless if I have not also developed skills such as communicating with patients and clinical reasoning.

Additionally, you will notice in the description of the portfolio system that gone are the days where our shortcomings can be hidden behind the outcome of a stellar grade. In this system the façade is removed and we are all forced to address our weaknesses. We are required, even rewarded, for identifying the areas in which we need to make improvements and then acting on them. This notion is one that society frequently shies away from. Constantly pressuring individuals to exude an air of perfection, society persuades us that the perfect outfit or a stellar college transcript, house, or career can provide a façade for the imperfections and insecurities that we all have. While they may allow us to proceed through life smiling on the outside, outward expressions of perfection may actually prevent us from recognizing our flaws and capitalizing on real opportunities for growth. In a similar way to the CCLCM portfolio system, CrossFit also acts to eliminate façades of perfection, giving individuals the opportunity to be vulnerable, to explore their weaknesses, and to learn from them in order to become better athletes all-around. The beauty of CrossFit is that it cannot be bested by our fancy façades – no matter who you are, how much money you make, or what kind of clothes you are wearing, CrossFit will force you to come face-to-face with your imperfections. In so doing, CrossFit allows us to conquer these weaknesses that we otherwise might have shrugged off, avoided, or kept hidden to ourselves. By calling our bluff – exposing weaknesses in the gym and showing us that it is possible to make improvements, CrossFit empowers us to extend this behavior to other aspects of our life. And though we may feel vulnerable at first, identifying, rather than ignoring, our shortcomings and taking steps to overcome them paves the way for an exponentially more fulfilling life.

My first year at the CCLCM has reinforced the concepts that CrossFit teaches me every day. The portfolio system reminds me that “perfection” in life is defined by our own personal goals, and sometimes balance across  many competencies IS the perfection we strive for. As our goals shift, so does this “perfect” target, such that we are in constant pursuit of betterment. Additionally, I am assured that though incredibly uncomfortable, true growth is possible only by stepping out from behind our façades of perfection to grapple with our weaknesses. In doing so, we gain strength in our shared struggles and the impetus to work toward the goal of becoming better human beings.

We’ve spent the last two  weeks of medical school in our Endocrinology Block.  Returning from a much-needed and  very restful break for the holidays, I was excited to be learning about a new system and expected the coming days  to be filled with discussion of those elusive glands and hormones I’d heard of, but never really knew exactly what  purpose they served.  While we did spend plenty of time learning about things like T3 and T4, Chromaffin cells,  and the difference between the anterior and posterior pituitary, to my surprise (and perhaps also to my  fascination) a significant portion of the past two weeks revolved around obesity.

We have learned about the genetics of obesity, how hormones and neural networks control how much you eat and  how much energy you expend, and all the hormonal factors that our fat cells release contributing to insulin  resistance.   We talked about a number of endocrine diseases that lead to uncontrollable weight gain or loss, but what resonated with me most was this figure that seemed to kick-off every other seminar I participated in, highlighting America’s  “Obesity Epidemic:”

The Obesity Epidemic - http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/

With all this buzz about obesity, I was fascinated by how quickly the word “exercise” passed in and out of  conversation – as if it were some sort of fictional idea, a figment of the imagination that only worked in fairy tales  and highly-controlled research studies.  Instead, after rapidly dissuading the eager medical students’ suggestions of  “lifestyle changes,” clinicians quickly turned the focus toward pharmacology and novel molecular targets for  treating this epidemic.  Did I miss something here?  At first I was quite perplexed – if we know that exercise  affords  us countless health benefits and is likely to prevent diseases from diabetes to cancer, why are we searching so  hard for the “magic bullet” drug to treat obesity and leaving this thoroughly tested and proven antidote to the  wayside?

What strikes me the most about many our seminar discussions with highly-esteemed clinicians is their sheer  lack of faith in the ability of any patient to adhere to an exercise regimen.  But then I stop to think – can I blame  them?  Though I’ve only been immersed in the field of medicine for half a year now, I’ve become accustomed to  the standard “diet and exercise” talk.  Patients in need of serious lifestyle change are sent off for an appointment  with the nutritionist and told to “exercise.”  Now talk about an elusive idea – if I had been living an increasingly  sedentary lifestyle for much of my adult life and was given these instructions, I would have no idea what to do  either. Heck, I had no idea what to do or how to exercise the minute I was set free from my high school sports  programs, and exercise had been part of my everyday life for years!  The plethora of weight loss and fitness advice  we are constantly bombarded with  doesn’t help one bit – with so many options, many of them contradictory, and  different people asking for your money, it’s nearly impossible not to become overwhelmed and discouraged before  finding a program that works.  So, why is it that doctors frequently leave it up to their patients to figure out?  Sure,  they might suggest Weight Watchers or purchasing a gym membership, but ultimately this choice is left up to the  patient.  Do we leave other choices of this magnitude up to our patients?  If I came in to see my physician with  strep throat, would he make a few suggestions of what medication I should take and the dosage and leave it up to  me to decide? Absolutely not!  If I needed to rehabilitate a torn ACL would my doctor point me to a few  online resources and send me on my way? Not at all!  Next thing I know I would be standing in a physical therapy  clinic receiving step-by-step instructions from a doctor who had helped countless others through ACL rehab, and I  would be returning several times a week to ensure my therapy was completed fully and properly.  So why is it that  exercise, perhaps the most important and life-saving treatment of all, is so improperly “prescribed” by our  physicians?  The problems are many-fold, and as far as I can see they stem not from the doctors themselves but rather the health care system in which these doctors work. However, at least in my mind, the complexity of these problems doesn’t preclude working toward a solution.

After these past two weeks, the disconnect between medicine and fitness has never been so apparent to me. While I always knew it existed, there is just quite nothing like experiencing first-hand the Grand-Canyon-sized gaping hole between experts in sickness and wellness, and experts in fitness.  My favorite of CrossFit’s models of fitness is by far the “Sickness-Wellness-Fitness” continuum, yet in the context of medical care, this continuum is not quite as smooth as we might hope.  Instead of individuals oscillating freely along from wellness to fitness, fitness to wellness, and occasionally (God forbid) inching over to sickness, we have a serious traffic jam on the Sickness-Wellness side of the spectrum.  People are stockpiled on the cliff we call “Wellness,” peering over the edge   and looking down at the polluted waters of “Fitness.”   That’s a scary jump to take – and who knows where you will end up once you do?  A $10-per-month gym membership?  $100 for a video that promises to give you a six pack?  What we need is something to bridge this gap – someone who can take patients by the hand and lead them toward the right side of this continuum, and it’s clear to me that CrossFit may just help us find that someone we need.

“Your doctor is a lifeguard, not a swim coach” – Coach Greg Glassman.

The human body is absolutely fascinating: a beautiful, complex, resilient machine.  From the macroscopic level of the heart – pumping 60-100 times per minute, every minute, often for decades on end – to the microscopic level of the immune system – constantly fighting off invaders we don’t even know we have, the more I learn of the intricacy and efficiency of the body the more amazed I become.  But what exactly is the meaning and purpose of the human body?  What is our relationship with this body, and how does it change over a lifetime?  As we prepare to intervene when the body is not working optimally, caring for individuals who may soon part ways with their bodies, these are the types of questions we have been pondering as medical students in our most recent Foundations of Medicine block, “The Call of the Body.”

As captivating as the human body may be, there is nothing like anatomy lab to remind you of its fragility.  At 8 am every Monday morning, those oh-so-fascinating bodies, sprawled out on stainless steel tables and ready for their insides to be cut and poked and prodded, gently remind me that there will come a day when I will no longer inhabit my own.  Though we often allow our bodies to define who we are, this weekly scene demands us to recognize that in fact our bodies are just the temporary vehicles through which we experience life.

As such vehicles, every unique body allows for a unique experience of life.  The body presents challenges to each individual in a way that is often neither fair nor pleasant.  These challenges range from nuisance to life-threatening, from a broken leg to blindness to cancer.  Though it may be easier to see the body as burdensome in these cases, it is in accepting these challenges we cannot control and learning to use one’s own original body to experience life that we find fulfillment and continue to inch toward our maximum potential.  For the person with a broken leg this may mean navigating daily life with crutches for a few weeks, for the person with blindness this may mean learning Braille, and for the person with cancer this may mean continuing to learn and love with friends and family between treatments while fighting for his or her life.

Through CrossFit, we recognize the necessity of meeting life’s challenges head-on.  We refuse to take the easy way out, as comfortable as it may be.  Not only do we learn to live our lives with the challenges our bodies present, but we actively seek out new challenges for our bodies to overcome every day. In the box, the uniqueness of the body becomes even more apparent as every individual has his or her own limitations – poor shoulder mobility, low cardiovascular endurance, a stiff knee.  We realize the importance of attending to our own personal weaknesses so that we might use our bodies more efficiently as we continue to challenge them in new ways.  More important than the time on the clock or the weight on the barbell is the fact that we are constantly expanding the unique limits of our own bodies.  Using the vehicles that are our bodies in such a way allows us to grow stronger in mind as well, so that we may develop the fortitude to handle all of life’s challenges, large or small.  After all, the body is just a temporary vehicle, but  the person, and how that person chooses to live through his or her body- choosing to succumb to life’s challenges or overcome them, lives much longer.

 ”What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” – Nietzsche