My whole life I’ve been a competitive person, always looking for the next challenge.  But what I have in bunches in terms of adventurousness I do come up short in terms of reflection and contemplation.  A lot has changed in my life in the last two years: I decided to get off active duty in order to pursue a new career field.  Turns out it is no small endeavor.

I’ve also been chasing all of my goats when it comes to CrossFit.  I competed with a team in the 2012 Team Regional competition, did not do so well, and spent days, weeks and months training harder and harder to compete with the Outlier Team at the 2013 Regionals.

All my hard work and persistence in the gym lead to a stress fracture in my SI joint because it appears my mind was stronger than my body.  After missing Regionals in 2013, I returned to the gym even more devoted than before to make it to Regionals this year.  It took only a few months to come back from injury and a few more to regain strength numbers.  I would have told you a few months ago that I would stop at nothing to make to the Regional team competition.  I was committed and I couldn’t foresee anything changing my mind about what I knew I wanted.

Then when Regionals appeared as a possibility my expected reaction should have been one of adulation and contentment.  But it was the opposite.  I was in the middle of second semester organic chemistry and it was kicking my butt.  I still had a Reserve gig that was taking up much more of my time than promised, I volunteered for a deployment, Bill and I were PCS-ing to Hawaii in a couple of months, and suddenly the importance of going to Regionals went from the top of my list to the bottom.

I am not sure when it happened exactly.  I can’t say I just woke up one day and realized that what I loved about CrossFit was actually the community and camaraderie.  I still love competition but I failed to realize that I could compete with others every time I did a WOD and I was constantly competing with myself with the Olympic lifting, gymnastics and overall strength.  All of a sudden it occurred to me that my CrossFit life was actually thriving and it had nothing to do with going to Regionals at all.

There is so much to being a member at a gym, especially one as special as Outlier, that has nothing to do with where you ranked in the Open or whether or not you make a trip to Regionals as a competitor.  What I realized was that you are a competitor in everything you do in life, and CrossFit is just another aspect.  It is hugely enriching and I would encourage everyone to give it all you have but to also keep it in perspective.  It should be a value-added to your life.   Not all CrossFit gyms were created equal; Outlier is a great community and Bill and I will miss it a ton.

– Jasmine

Come by Sky High tonight at 6:30 to say farewell to Jasmine and Bill.  https://www.outliercrossfit.com/event/outlier-crossfit-trampoline-night-at-sky-high-going-away-party-for-jasmine-and-bill/