R.I.P. "Can't"

R.I.P. “Can’t”
By Sarah Macdonald

I’ll never forget the huge life lesson that my P7 teacher taught me on the very first day of school. Her name was Mrs. Jedlicka and she handed each of us students an index card and told us to write on the card something we thought we can’t do. Everyone’s answers ranged from “I can’t do maths” to “I can’t shoot a hoop at basketball” to “I can’t swim”, etc. I think mine was something cheeky like “I can’t fly”, but that’s beside the point… 

Our teacher then took us out on a walk on the school’s nature trail and she found a spot and dug a big hole in the dirt. She said, “From now on, in my classroom, CAN’T is a word that is not allowed. There is nothing you can’t do. Something may be hard, but that’s when we learn to persist, keep trying, and one day you’ll get it. So no more ‘I can’t’!”

We were then instructed to take our cards with our “I can’t” statement, rip it up, and throw it in the hole. She buried our can’ts, and that’s where they stayed. R.I.P. “Can’t.”

It was a lesson that stuck with me on so many levels. In owning that quality and living it out, I quickly learned that to get from something I wasn’t able to do at the time to actually achieving what that thing was, there was a whole lot of struggle, failed attempts, and frustration. But, always with the hope that things weren’t going to stay this way forever - keep pushing, keep going, things will change, get better, and become easier.

This is so applicable to what we do at the box. CrossFit presents so many skills - some harder than others. But the thing I want to encourage us in is to eliminate “Can’t” from our vocabulary.

“Can’t” does nothing but hinder and hold you back from what you’re truly capable of. It makes you miss out on the beautiful, gruelling, and satisfying process of getting from “not able to right now” to “Yup, I’ve got this.” It’s coming to a place of embracing the struggle and the process that we find joy in the journey of reaching goals and scaling heights.

Want to finally be able to run a full 400m? Each time you come is a chance to get one step closer, run just a bit further - it’s hard and it burns, but let it burn...you’re getting better! Want to hit that PR snatch? Know there are going to be many missed attempts, barbells and weights clanging on the ground, tweaks to technique, but you’re getting closer. The process is messy, hard, and sore, but so worth it.

Why am I so passionate about these things at CrossFit? Well, one, it’s fun, but two, these physical and mental elements we encounter in our training always breaks out of the box and spills over into our lives and can be directly applied to spur us on to greater things. Life is not perfect and easy - it’s messy, there’s bumps, setbacks, and turns. But it’s the process, the struggles, that bring depth and richness to the things we hold dear in our lives. Things that are valuable come at a price. Want a great career? A great marriage? Great friendships? Great family? A great life? Having these things isn’t always smooth sailing. These aren’t things you can’t have - you absolutely can, but we must embrace the struggles that inevitably come with anything worth having and not bail before these things reach their full amazing potential.

Finding the bigger vision for our lives and having “life PRs” we want to achieve are big keys to pushing us forward and pushing “can’t” out. Where do you want to be at the end of it all? What do you want to achieve? What do you want your life to look like looking back on it? Big, heavy, but important questions - ones that are so worth exploring and pursuing. YOU are worth it and YOUR life MATTERS.

I’ll leave you with one of my most favourite motivational clips from a film called, “Facing the Giants”. Doesn’t matter how many times I see this, it moves me. Enjoy and see you at the box!!