Oh boy, what do I say…
It’s hard to think of the perfect words to describe how I feel about what’s happening. That’s a pretty fantastic feat seeing as how I pride myself on being somewhat linguistically clever. Clever has nothing to do though with my lack of ability to find a description for the magic that all you possess, yet only some of you know that and many of you don’t. I don’t mean that negatively, more so along that lines that sometimes the “overwhelming” factor needs to die down a bit before the full impact hits you. I have gotten message after message after glorious message of “I get it, I get what this is about now” and “I’m not scared and excited and nervous anymore, I’m just excited!” and “I can’t wait till the next workout! If I can walk to it…” right on down to “I love my team and I don’t even know half their names yet…”
Which brings me to a quick point… I don’t introduce you all with a cutesy name game on purpose. Because we’re adults. This isn’t a kindergarten circle :). I fully expect, as part of getting out of your comfort zone, to FIND OUT the names of your teammates! Ever wonder why I use everyone’s name so often? It’s a chance to look up and see who I’m talking about… To get familiar with hearing that name so often that you want to find out who they are. For every person that’s new to you, you’re new to them, so put bashfulness aside and embrace a hulkster!
So what I was saying before telling you you’re an adult was that I LOVE when the first workout is over and done with. It’s like the first time you’re learning to ride a bike, take the training wheels off, get your push off, and find out that you CAN steer the bike and stay upright! It’s like a weight is lifted off of your shoulders and what’s left is beautiful hope and a desire to rid yourself of that demonic little voice that is so good at convincing you that you’re going to fail anyway so why try? By now, I hope you can see that trying is what we do. Battling till you stand atop your insecurities and self proclaimed “inabilities” is what courses through the veins of a hulkster.
Something NO ONE can take from you is your choice to give up. In that moment of angst, fatigue, and ache where you are firmly convinced that if there were a gun to your head you TRULY could NOT go on, it’s up to you whether you believe that or not. Don’t get me wrong, “going on” isn’t referencing perfection… Quite the contrary! “Going on” means refusing to give less than everything you’ve got. “Going on” pertains to that instance when you KNOW that if you go for one more push up, you’re going to collapse… yet you go for it anyway. At this point, you have 2 scenarios. You either really DO collapse, or you squeeze out another. If you manage one more push up when you thought it impossible… Well then there you go, you’re defying the odds and proving your self doubt completely wrong and the tangibility of the human spirit completely right. You might be saying “Well then you’re put right back into the same scenario, which means eventually, you collapse!” Yup. Bingo. What do you do when you collapse? You take that deep breathe, remember what you’re there for, take a quick glance at that shovel, and go for it again. And again. And again. Until the end comes. The end of the exercise always comes. The end is inevitable, you’re guaranteed failure is not.
What the short story turned long really is… is that I’m proud of you. Most importantly, YOU should be proud of you. Already you have tackled something that has caused some of you some restless nights and so many butterflies you could open your own butterfly conservatory. You did it. Remind yourself of that. It gets not only better, but easier from here. It gets more rewarding than this, I mean it! That’s really saying something, because I know several of you who already know you have your hands on something magical here.
It’s up to you to let it go…
As for you Veteran Hulkamaniacs who have been traveling this road with me for a long time now? Don’t worry, I’ve got some major tricks up my sleeve this challenge ;). No Hulk left behind! This is going to be new for EVERYONE!
I’ll leave you with a little tidbit of what you all have done so far. For those of you doing Hulk, it’s an opportunity to relive something you’re going to want to remember. It’s the little things, after all… For those of you who AREN’T doing Hulk, I want you to think of this as a window into room you can only see 1/100th of it’s actual space, capacity, and draw. These videos were taken during Poseidon’s first workout. I will be posting videos periodically of the different teams so everyone can get a glimpse in on what the House of Hulk really does :).
In this video I took the opportunity to remind Adam (a packer fan) that my 49ers are still securely in the superbowl runnings:
Then Tammey said something, and I decided to say hello:
Then Denise (owner of Anytime Fitness off Santa Rosa Ave where all the magic happens) decided that smack dab in the middle of gearing up Poseidon for their first chant was the best time to take an important phone call into the back office. Luckily the other gym owner, her husband John, got it all on video:
Finally, I’m able to address (only an excerpt) what the chant is REALLY all about before we get to the real thing:
The finished product:
Love,
Hulk
iamhulk 