This Revolution

"This is not the revolution I signed up for."

My friend said that to me one day in the gym as we prepared to do another CrossFit workout. I chuckled. So much has changed in the world lately that chuckling is what I do the most now. I can't stop a rushing tide with my hands.

Part of me agreed with her – the world of CrossFit is very different from what it used to be – and part of me shrugged.

Life changes. We change. CrossFit changes.

There's not much any of us can do about it.What started out small and dirty and ours turned into something big and shiny and for the cameras and a whole bunch of people.

Other things changed with that shift.I'm not saying these were good or bad changes. They just are. They exist. And, as with most things in life, we either shift with them or we find a new path.

Those are really the two choices that we have for everything in life – adapt or abandon –  despite all the talking and assessing and prognosticating that we engage in.

Everything else is just words. Us trying to deal with us. The world grappling to deal with the world.

When you think about it, much of our suffering comes because we have a difficult time accepting change.

We wish, we long, we fight, we protest. We ruminate on things we have absolutely no chance of changing. And, in doing so, we prolong our own period of discomfort.

Think about that: prolonging your own period of discomfort.

That's like wearing shoes that you've outgrown, right? Sure, you can do it. (Damn it, you paid a lot of money for those shoes!) But maybe you'd be happier finding a new pair of shoes that fit. They might cost more money or they might be cheap – but at least they'll fit your feet.

And so we adapt to changes, or we don't.

Nothing says you have to stay here. And nobody is mandating that you do this new thing.

Our supreme obligation is, after all, to ourselves. Yes, we serve and support others, but first we must take care of ourselves.

Live your life as you need to.

Stay where you are, or go find a new revolution if you think that is what you need. There's more than one way to swing a sword.

But staying in place and complaining is the road to happiness only for internet trolls and curmudgeons. And, meanwhile, there's a beautiful path waiting beneath the tips of your toes.