AO: The Mess Hall | Swanson Elementary|
An absolutely perfect morning. 63 degrees. Full moon bright in the sky. No wind.
PAX- Rosetta, Toadstool, Stella, Huffy, Smashmouth, Convoy, Lite Brite, Flanders, Sister Act, Hard Hat, Griswold, Bieber, Baby Shark, Sweet Roll.
Q: Roadhouse
I couldn’t sleep. I am not sure why exactly but I couldn’t sleep. Now, I never sleep well before a Q but this was worse than usual. I tossed and turned all night. I finally fell asleep around 3:45 AM. My alarm went off at 4:30… But instead of being tired, I was excited. This would be my first time at the Mess Hall. My first venture away from the Trident. After a year of posting every Tuesday at the site that I opened up, I was now on the loose. And I was excited.
As I looked to see what to wear for the beatdown, I found myself drawn to my Trident shirt… I guess I couldn’t completely untether. I threw it on and headed out the door. It was a perfect morning and the full moon hung low in the sky. I drove past several flags and they were all still in the gloom. I started getting even more excited.
As I pulled into the lot at 5:01, 3 pre-runners were taking off. I rolled the window down and gave them my best wishes. I had some setup to do. I parked the car and looked around the site. As I did, my man Griswold pulled up. It had been way too long since I had seen this specimen and when he got out of the car I hugged him for an awkwardly long time. And based on what I felt on my thigh, he enjoyed it. He took off for his own pre-run and I got to setting up. I was in awe of how perfect it was this morning as I dropped my weinkes and walked the hallowed grounds. I headed back up the flags. One of the flags was the Nugent Flag. I had received it at the Murph at Redwings and was excited to pass it to a real stud this morning.
The cars started rolling in. it was an eclectic group. Some Swanson regulars like Toadstool and Stella, some sarpy swag in Baby Shark and Sweet Roll, some absolute horses like Hard Hat and Lite Brite. What an awesome group!
I hobbled through the intro. Five core principles. Mission statement. I am not a professional. And then we moseyed to the basketball court for some warm-a-rama. We circled up and began.
WARM-A-RAMA:
SSH’s 15
Big Ones 10 count each side
Imperial Walkers 15 IC
Sobriety Sun Gods 10 each way
Goofballs 15 IC (extra goofy in honor of my man Othello graduating with his Master’s this week. Congrats my Dog!!)
After warm-a-rama, I asked to the group to find a partner, someone they didn’t know very well. The group quickly matched up and we moseyed on the path around the park. I encouraged the PAX to chatter on the mosey and get to know each other. My partner, Huffy, must not have heard these instructions as he ran a 4-minute pace around the track leaving me in the dust. I enjoyed my solo mosey.
As we returned to the basketball court, I introduced the group to the Thang. It was a two man grinder up the hill between the school buildings. One man would run up the hill and so a set of 10 Merkins. Then they would back down to their partner who was doing a list of exercises AMRAP.
THE THANG:
We’re going to do a 2-man tag team grinder today.
One guy runs up the hill for some Merkin Mania
10 Merkins
10 Werkins
10 Diamond Merkins
10 Tempo Merkins
10 Chuck Norris
Other guy stays at AMRAP Station and does the following exercises:
Jump Squats
Heels to Heaven
Cherry Pickers
Copperhead Squats
Starfish Crunches
Air Presses
Bonnie Blairs
Big Boys
Carolina Dry Docks
Hydraulic Squats
Freddy Mercurys
Overhead Claps
Halfway through the Thang I called for a pause. Halftime if you will. I had everyone line up on the wall of the school and we did some wall work. It was awful! Terrible idea by me.
Wall Work
10 Donkey Kicks
10 Balls to Walls
10 Chicken Peckers
10 Australian Mt Climbers
After the wall work, we got back to work on the grinder. There was lots of mumblechatter and the group was in great spirits.
Finally I called Omaha and we moseyed back to the shovel flags. My man Sweet Roll had said earlier in the beatdown that he was hoping for some Oh Yeahs so I pivoted and added a mini- sexy Mary.
Sexy Mary
10 Oh Yeahs
5 Pickle Pushers
5 Pickle Pointers
Hammers Rancid Style
After Mary, we knocked out the NOR in smooth fashion. No technical difficulties. Though Flanders may have had a stroke remembering his new age. Happy Birthday Brother! Go Hoosiers!
Announcements:
Brick Builder on Saturday. More to come…
I passed the Nugent Flag to Convoy. I got the flag from Wait Time who EH’d me so I thought it fitting that I pass it a man that I EH’d, Convoy. When Convoy started, he was not in the best place in life. Then he started accelerating, passed me up, and has not stopped since! He is a stud who only tops his physical talents with his heart and his loyalty. I am lucky to call him my brother! Love you brother!
Prayers:
All silent intentions
COT:
I heard someone recently say that he wants his kids to be hard working in their thoughts. I was mowing the lawn at the time, and this struck me so much that I actually stopped mowing and put that line in my notes on my phone.
I started thinking about this concept of working hard in our thinking. And I realized that this is one of our biggest issues in the world right now. People are not hard working in their thoughts. In fact, I would go so far as to say they are lazy. I know I have been. When I just go along with something others think, its lazy. When I believe something because my parents did, its lazy. When I make excuses, place blame and point fingers… its lazy! When I take a tiny bit of evidence and make up an entire story about my inabilities or fall into victim mode, I’m being lazy in thought.
As leaders, we need to be hard working in our thoughts. We cannot allow ourselves to stop at the excuse or to let someone tell us what to think. We need to work hard to be positive. To be different. To be brave. To be courageous. We have got to pay attention to our thinking evert step of the way and her is why. Our thoughts drive everything. Emerson has a quote that speaks to this.
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words, watch your words they become your actions, watch your actions they become your habits, watch your habits they become your character, watch your habits they become your destiny.”
Everything we are and everything we become starts with our thinking. So if that is true, don’t you think we should be hard working in our thoughts? If our greatness and our success and the impact we make on the world all starts with our thoughts, then why would we ever be lazy with our thinking? It is too important. It matters too much. We cannot be complacent and just be, we have got to be deliberate and intentional and hard working in our thoughts. Because it is the only way we become who we want to become.
My challenge to you is to reflect on where you aren’t working hard in your thinking. Find out where you are being lazy in thought and make a change. Because it is too important not to.
I love you guys
Roadhouse