This Shit is Bananas!

I get 195,000 hits when I Google, "is CrossFit a cult?"
I asked trusty Mr. Google this question because some of my friends were tossing around this very idea.  Sure, they smiled and nodded like good friends do when I told them I joined a CrossFit gym, but they were secretly sitting on eggshells, carefully watching me, and waiting for the familiar and frightening glaze to start forming in my eyes. To some, I'm spontaneous and cooky.  To these life-long friends, I'm absolutely predictable. They have been through way too much with me. Because they love me like a fat kid loves cake, they knew this "CrossFit Situation" had to be handled particularly delicately, and thus, they recently "sat me down" for a mini intervention. 

Trust when i say, they had every right to be concerned as I have a long history of throwing myself into things in the most apeshit of fashions.

I will fully admit, this has always been a fatal flaw of mine. If I'm into something, I will get innapropriately obsessed with that thing (I'm talkin' utterly bananas!).  I will go rogue, cutting off all contact with the outside world, to focus on that thing, and that thing only.  I will then take that thing, no matter what it is, and rock.the.ever.living.shit.out.of.it! That is, until I get bored or hurt.

Some examples of things I've gotten into that I've taken too damn far:

• Eating
• Not Eating (see also Stacker 2 and/or 3)
• Drinking
• Not Drinking
• Jesus (I still got mad love for the big JC)
• Acid
• *NSYNC (I'm still apologizing for this phase)
• Knee-highs (this phase hasn't even started, but I'm warning you that I'm going to take it way too far)

When we get down to it, I'm a sicko with an addictive personality, and a strong tendency to partake in "cult-like" behavior. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

So am I drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid again?  The answer is "yes," and it's also "no".

The truth of the matter is I'm totally into this CrossFit thing. I have a huge boner for my gym.  I get a super "high" after each workout.  I love my coaches and the members. I love the results.  Honestly, I don't see how anyone could come into my gym and NOT fall in love with the program and the people.  Do I feel a strong sense of community?  Yes!  Do I find myself thinking about CrossFit all the time?  Yes!  Do I find pleasure in the pain at the end of my workout?  YES!  That sounds very cultish - but stay with me here...

While I am committed to CrossFit and my health overall, I have no plans to quit my job, shave my head, and set up a shrine to the CrossFit founders in my secret dungeon (location not to be disclosed for the safety of my future obsessive endeavors).  And while I am going harder at this than anything ever before (*NSYNC choreography aside), I trust my coaches 100%, and know that they would never even allow me to do anything if they thought it would harm me.  Shit, these coaches are so smart, they even limit the amount of times you can workout a week, because I'm sure they anticipated there would be bozos like me who would overdue it if they were able to.

I know that I am blessed with an amazing family and the most wonderful friends a girl could ever ask for, and I PROMISE that I will not lose sight of this again.  In fact, for the first time, this is an obsession of mine that I believe can exist harmoniously with the rest of the pieces of my life that are already in place. 

It's an odd thing, but when you are forced to push yourself physically, you almost have no choice but to get stronger mentally - and I THINK - because of this, I just might wind up being a better wife, dog mom, daughter, sister, friend, etc.

But as all things must come to an end, so must this post.  I'm glad my friends care about me enough to ensure I'm not drifting down crazy creek yet again!  I hope they know now that I'm going to ensure there is plenty of room in my life for my old loves and my new loves, although, they are going to have to agree to make some more room in their lives for my new muscles ;). 

If loving CrossFit is wrong, I don't want to be right! (SEXUAL CHOCOLATE)