Let me tell you a bizarre story. I’ve shared before that I am terrified of needles and, for that reason, I didn’t get my ears pierced until sometime in high school.
But, as an awkward middle-schooler, I wanted to wear earrings like the rest of the girls. So, I was in the habit of wearing clip-ons, except they weren’t really “clipped on”. They had these spring-loaded backs. Most of them were probably $1.99 from Claire’s. You know…only the best.
One day Mrs. May, my 7th grade English teacher, informed me that my ear was bleeding. Sure enough, the back of my earring had broken and the “spring” pierced my ear.
She sent me to the nurse’s office.
For some reason that remains a mystery, the school nurse called the janitor. (It was a small private school, so the nurse probably wasn’t a nurse but a stay-at-home mom looking for a tuition break. Just sayin’. I’m probably right.)
Joe, the janitor, enters the nurses office with a pair of pliers and a large pair of bolt cutters. He hands the pliers to the nurse and he positions the bolt cutters on the back side of my ear.
Together, Joe and “the nurse” removed the earring from my ear.
(Really, I had no reason to fear getting my ears pierced when the reality of Joe & his tools was far more terrifying…)
Later that night, as I relayed this odd scene to my mom, she said:
You know, of all the things you think to teach your kids, it never crossed my mind to teach you NOT to let a janitor remove any object from your body with pliers and bolt cutters.
There is no good reason for me to share that story with you guys today, other than the fact that it still makes me laugh, and the fact that this morning my chiropractor said to me, “Have you heard of ‘choose the wrench’?”
Immediately I thought: I probably shouldn’t let a chiropractor use a wrench on my body. That’s a lesson I learned from the janitor and the bolt cutters.
Of course, he didn’t intend to use a wrench as part of my adjustment…
My new-to-me chiropractor is a member of my gym. I went to his office after my workout this morning and when he asked how I was feeling he knew what I meant when I said “today’s workout crushed me“. I felt pretty beat up.
“Surfer on Acid”
3 Rounds:
300 Meter Run
21 Burpees
The goal of this workout is as fast as possible.
You guys know that running isn’t yet my strong suit. And burpees paired with running…well, yeah. It got me good. I told Dr. Messina, “No really. When I finished I just wanted to be alone so I could cry.”
But here’s the thing – those hard workouts are insight into the strength of my mindset.
The strength of my mindset is predictive of the quality of my choices.
Lots of people skip the workouts they dread. I go into them with a fierce tenacity to break down my barriers and step further into my potential.
Enter: choose the wrench.
Dr. Messina recommended I read an old blog post about brutal workouts, mindset, and the awesome movie Good Will Hunting.
Please note: the post below and the movie clip are explicit. Sensitive souls move right along.
Here’s the scene from Good Will Hunting about “choose the wrench”.
Do not let unexpected obstacles throw you. Do not complain. You are not a victim. Welcome to the human experience. Things aren’t easy. So what? Who said they would be? Meet the challenge and crush it. Don’t waste an ounce of energy on complaining.
Sheesh. Tough talk for a Friday, yeah? Let’s talk about food…
On the food front:
I went into the workout fasted – just cold brew coffee. I’m glad I did because any food bouncing around would have made a tough workout vomilicious. No thanks.
I dashed home to grab my bags & take a quick shower after enjoying some Paleo Power Meals: spaghetti squash with meat sauce.
After my adjustment I hit the road – heading out of town for a couple days. I’m listening to my body & drinking tons of water because I’m exceptionally thirsty today.
In the early afternoon I picked up a small salad with salmon and went for a walk on the beach.
I’m going out for dinner tonight and I’m writing this post before I go so I’ll tell you what I know for sure:
- There won’t be alcohol or starch or dessert
- I’ll either have a salad, steak, veggies or meat & cheese
Make the weekend an amazing one and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.