Strength Beyond Measure

So there I was, blood running off of my fingertips and a cold stare at my partner. He was just as confused as I was having thought it was some kind of joke. But it wasn’t, I was just electrocuted for what he says was five Mississippis.

Coming to the realization, I asked, “Did that just happen?”

“Ya dude”, nothing came after that. He was just as “shocked” as I was.

I was lucky back in August of 2016. None of the expected injuries of such an accident really manifested that day – internal/external burns, loss of limb, heart-attack or death. Just a small scar on my left arm from the exit wound. But I did want to deadlift the candy machine in the ER waiting room with an anger I wish to never experience again.

How did this happen to me? How could this happen to me? I’ve been an Electrician for 13 years, I’ve done this job so many times that even the loss of eyesight I experienced during the accident couldn’t have stopped me from doing it again. This time was different, I can see more clearly than ever before. I won’t be doing this job again – at least not for much longer.

I have a wife and 2 girls aged 6 and 4. The cliche of having your life flash before your eyes came true for me that August. And it scared the life into me. Having two car accidents that wrote off my work vehicles 3 and 6 months prior meant I wasn’t supposed to be here.

The ER doctor that August declared the reason I won the tug-of-war with 600 volts and my fist clenched around a live electrical conductor without going into cardiac arrest was my conditioning from CrossFit.

That is why I’m a CrossFit coach. It literally saved my life and I believe I was meant to help others. I want to give people the gift of fitness that I’ve experienced since joining CrossFit and motivate positive change in others to be better versions of themselves as it has done for me.

And I would use every medium that I found reward in to reach others and teach them about the importance of fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle. All of which are constantly evolving in my life. It is why I created this blog, to share my findings on these topics from the countless hours and nights I spend researching them – and I love it!

As you can tell I’m a pretty stubborn guy. I think part of my problem is that I’m very optimistic and highly motivated. I just placed it in the wrong area of my life at the time. I kept that positive energy in the work I came to resent. Ignoring the times I was in harms way to step back and re-evaluate my life. Change is inevitable, but choice in change is not. Instead, I did what I thought was right. Everyday felt like wandering in a forest with a spinning compass. I just put my head down and kept running after…something. Hoping the needle would settle itself giving me a direction to go.

I guess it comes down to how much you’re willing to take?

 “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” – Rocky Balboa

Now, things have changed. I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul. Being awake to that fact now, I’m able to leverage the positive support around me that had always been there. I’ve been given opportunities to pursue my re-kindled passion for purpose.

As we begin 2018, practice gratitude and mindfulness. Be accepting of the limitless love and opportunities that surround you everyday. In my experience, unless you see it you’re just looking through it and you end up being a passenger on the ride that is your life.  Deciding on change for me was one of the hardest things I’ve done and what came after just seemed to fall into place – like it was meant to be. The path of least resistance usually reads that way, doesn’t it?

Life changing decisions don’t need to be made after life threatening circumstances. Trust that whatever happens you will have the strength to do whats in your control to create the life you’ve always wanted. You just don’t know how many chances you’ll get.