Lessons from a Stone



Lessons from a Stone

THANG: 11 brothers defeated the fartsack and posted at Stonehenge on a chilly morning. A few preran the workout (Wild Turkey, and Cheese Curd?) and the others rolled in right on time.  Plan was to keep mileage low and get an all-around total-body workout.  So we went to the rockpile by the lake, and integrated that rock for most of the workout. Did some other stuff, but for the purposes of this backblast, really not that important.

REFLECTION:

Frehley’s and WT reminded me of the first time YHC Q’d Stonehenge, which had to have been ~5 years ago.  Can’t find the backblast, but YHC brought freshly cut tree logs and buckets of rocks to incorporate in the bootcamp way back then…  pretty cool these guys still remembered.  That’s a long time ago… and some things have changed, but other things have remained the same.  No coupons from home were brought, but we did use the stone pile that was by the fitness trail.  We used the same grassy area as 5 years ago. And many of my same F3 brothers still post, maybe more, maybe less, but we all come out because F3 has been a big positive part of our lives. That hasn’t changed.

Obviously YHC hasn’t been in the gloom as much for the past year. It’s been tough. Starting a new business, and going to sleep at midnight make it tough to answer the bell at 0430 day after day.  And while the 1st F may be suffering, there’s a reason there’s 3 F’s, and in this season, and thankfully because of the guardrails YHC has worked hard to install, the other two F’s have been going strong.  How things have changed… before F3, if my fitness was shot (injury, laziness, etc) then YHC would have nothing to fall back on.  Now? there’s a few more pounds on the belly, and a little slower average pace on a posted Strava LSD, but life isn’t a downward spiral.  And that’s the power of F3. Now YHC isn’t making excuses for hitting the lack of workouts.  The point here is to ask yourself if F3 is just a workout FITNESS, or do you have the Fellowship and Faith to bolster you when times get tough? Do you have it for others, if not yourself? YHC hopes so.

So as we lifted stones / rocks this morning, and it seemed like an unintended metaphor for life, and what through F3, we have to help us through life.  Just a couple observations / thoughts that you can relate to your life however you like (may make more sense to the guys who did the workout).

  • Sometimes, you choose the stone you have to lift, and it’s your decide whether you want something light or something heavy (each picked own stone to start)
  • Sometimes unexpectedly, you get someone else’s stone, not because you asked, but just because (Q called for men to switch stones randomly)
  • If the stone you carry is too heavy, there may be a moment (season) where you need to put it down for a minute.
  • But eventually a brother will help you carry it, or switch with you, and you’d do the same for your brother.
  • Carrying the stone alongside your brother helps both of you push harder than you could do yourself (in cadence sit-ups tapping stones)
  • Sometimes you take the heavier stone to keep your brother from bearing it.
  • Sometimes you make him keep that stone to toughen him up.

Borrowing from the QSource which Dredd wrote, the Stone is the instrument that refines a Blade. The mentor to the mentee.  And so in this case, it’s fitting so much can be learned from the stones from the rockpile we used this morning.

Life is tough. Make sure you have someone in your life who can help you persevere in all seasons, and do the same for the next person.

ANNOUNCEMENTS : asking all pax to support just 1 SPEED FOR NEED race this season. 1-2 hours of a morning one time. Race Schedule on www.speedforneed.org and first race is 3/7/20 RunJenRun 5k at Symphony Park with Frasier on Q.  We’ll be pushing cancer fighters and survivors in a race benefitting them.

Thanks Wild Turkey for inviting me to Q in the old stomping grounds.

XOXO ~ JRR Tolkien

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