Goodbye thoughts from John Gilbert

Here is note from one of our members who is moving out of town soon.
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To the CrossFit Cleveland Family,

Thank you all- especially Paul, Nancy, Bill and Staci... and my workout buddy, Trevor- for such a great experience over the past 9 plus months. I have been, and will continue, telling everyone I encounter about CrossFit and its benefits.

I’m inclined to agree with the Woody Allen’ism that “90 percent of life is showing up,” but with one caveat- 50% of that is showing up at the right place! For me the right place was CrossFit Cleveland. And I will tell everyone who asks me about CrossFit just to show up there. For me- a fairly busy guy with a family, a job, graduate school at night and several other commitments- it’s hard to find the time to work out. And when I did find the time, prior to CrossFit, it was time poorly spent with ineffective weight lifting and lame cardio workouts. I would show up, but I was at the wrong place. Then I would try another gym, and the results would be equally underwhelming… and it wasn’t for lack of showing up. It was simple the wrong place. The only physical changes were that my pants were getting tighter! When I started just showing up at CrossFit all of that changed.

I didn’t have to preplan a workout. I just had to show up and complete the WOD I’ll admit that the first couple weeks I felt crippled. I had muscle pains that I had not felt in a long time (if ever), and some days I doubted I would be able to complete the posted WOD. I just told myself to keep showing up even though many days I didn’t want to. I remember when a couple of new guys showed up to a WOD and were asking Paul how many sets they should anticipate completing in the allotted time, and his response in his deadpan tone was perfect, “just finish the workout.” That’s the beauty of it. It’s simple. No matter what your fitness level is you just have to show up and finish the workout. Don’t worry about numbers and times- the results will come. They certainly have for me. I’m now able to do most of the workouts as prescribed, and though I am moving away from CrossFit Cleveland I am hooked for life. Undoubtedly I will be finding another affiliate or converting a small section of my garage into a zone for doing as many of the workouts as possible.

In case you couldn’t tell already, I LOVE CrossFit! So I’ll conclude with one of my favorite quotes of all time…

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

- Pedro Arrupe


So for anyone who wants results, all you need to do is show up at the right place- CrossFit Cleveland. But be warned, you will likely fall in love with it. It will get you out of bed in the mornings… it’s what you will do with your evenings and weekends… you’ll read about it… it will break your heart (when Trevor beats you by 10 seconds in a WOD)…and it will amaze you with joy and gratitude (the next day when you beat him)!

Sincere thanks and gratitude to all of you! You'll be hearing from me soon when I get that muscle up!

John

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We'll be meeting up at the Beer Engine Saturday 5/2 at 4:00pm for little send-off party for John and Stacy, join us! Buckeye Beer Engine 15315 Madison Ave Lakewood, OH 44107 (216) 226-2337