Jump for Joy!

“It's possible to forget how alive we really are. We can become dry and tired, just existing, instead of really living. We need to remind ourselves of the juice of life, and make that a habit. Find those places inside that jump for joy, and do things”

-Unknown-

I jumped on the 24-inch box last night. 55 times! The last time we did box jumps, Shana made a passing comment to me that it was about time for me to move up to the 24-inch box from the 20-inch box. My first thought was, "I can't jump on a 24-inch box. I can barely make it atop the 20-inch box. I can't move up to the 24-inch box until I drop more weight." Of course I didn't say this out loud for fear that Shana would make me do burpees as punishment for my negative, self-defeated thinking. So I kept my thoughts to myself--even though these were not totally unreasonable thoughts. After all, there are all kinds of legitimate reasons why I should not be able to jump from a dead standing position to the top of a 24-inch box--not the least of which is the fact that I have had my feet planted firmly on the ground my entire life! And now I am 47 years old, too late in life to be jumping, for goodness sake. People my age don't jump. I mean really--I could take a tumble and hurt myself. It's scary and dangerous. All kinds of good reasons not to try the 24-inch box.

But then I remembered back to last November when I first started working out with Shana. I was jumping on a 12-inch box at the time, and I was proud of it. One of the first things Shana said to me was, "PAT, you've got to move up to a bigger box!" Those of you who know Shana know the tone in her voice and the look she gave me. So in December of last year, she had me attempt an 18" box. I remember standing in front of that 18" box, frozen in fear. Finally, with lots of encouragement and Shana standing right beside me, I managed to just do it. There was a big celebration in the gym; Chuck came running out of the office to witness the next one. It was a great feeling!

Later I moved up to a 20-inch box, and that's where I have stayed until now. In my mind, 20-inches is plenty high. I get a great workout ripping out box jumps on the 20-inch box. Why rock the boat?

But that's what coaches are for--to rock our boats and keep us from becoming satisfied with "pretty good". So when I saw box jumps were in the workout, I decided that I would attempt the 24-inch jumps. With Shana on one side of the box and Marshall on the other, without thinking about it too much, I hauled off and jumped up onto that 24-inch box. And what do you know? I can jump on a 24-inch box.