Being strong
So yesterday was a little crazy…most of it in a very good way.
I participated in our community’s 2nd "Iron Spouse Challenge"…essentially they thought of all the ’soldier stuff’ and stuck it all together and those of us who signed up got to do it 
It ROCKED. We had teams of 4, but 2 of them dropped out yesterday morning cause their husbands were coming in, and i got to meet 2 new people. Yay. Left my kids at home with my husband(thank GOD he’s home after 13 months in Iraq!), and we started at 7:30. Did a PT test(pushups and situps), then an obstacle course that involved a log carry, back crawl(that thing is a b-ee-otch!), litter carry, then running through tires. I did a whole hell of a lot better than i did in September! Then we had a 1.5 mile ruck march…wearing IBA’s, carrying a weighted rucksack, and dummy M16s. Up a freakin hill..and i’m not joking. There was one girl on the team that wouldnt(couldnt?) run, and i kept encouraging her…(skinniest girl on the team!)…and she stayed with it, walking at a good pace. Towards the end, i kept telling her that we’re all more capable then we could ever imagine. She looked at me and goes "I see you around here running all the time, and how you’ve persevered"…and she RAN! I was so proud!
Anyway, then we did a grenade orietation course, having to find the soldiers who had questions about grenades(which we had to guess at..i mean..answer..lol), then got to a course where they set up targets, and we threw from 3 different positions. Holy crap at the difference that working out made from last September(when i did a similar challenge). As we go up to the M16 qualifying course, i see my 2 little boys(they’re 6 and 4). My husband had to go to formation. Of course. Adapt and overcome, right? lol. So they were with me, stayed behind me while i shot the fun laser type m16’s, then did a 2 mile run with me(ok, i did carry a 50pd 4yr old on my shoulders the whole way), then hung out while me and my team did a paintball competition.
After all of that, THEN they wanted to run some more. So we ran laps in our little area. Last Sept when i got done with our challenge, i could barely move, couldnt breathe, nothing. (*and it was STILL an improvement from where i’d been*), and this time i’m doing suicides with my boys?!
It was an incredible day. Hopefully I’ll go to MEPS before the end of the month to sign for the Navy, and i’m crazy excited about that. When my husband brought my kids to me, or when i started out the day with plans changing left and right, i thought of that. I wont be able to say "oh, i cant come in today, i have kids", or whatever else faces me…that’ll be my job, my life, and i’ll have to take it as it comes.
Working out like i have has given me the strength to say "I CAN do this!". No matter what. No matter what…hell, if i can do pullups, or burpees, or whatever else Crossfit throws at me, then surely i can think on my feet and do a challenge with my children in tow.
I used to think that strength was signified by bulging muscles and high bench press numbers. Maybe that’s the case. But i saw strength in my girlfriend who pushed herself to run when she thought she had nothing left in the tank. I saw strength in women who give their all even though their husbands have been gone for 13 months. I saw strength in my children, who over the course of their lifetimes, have learned to just go with the flow, adapting and cooperating with the chaos that is sometimes life. And for the first time in my life…i saw strength in myself. I may not look like some of these women*yet!*, or be able to knock out the pushups like my trainer did…but i did what I was called to do, no matter the obstacles. And i believed that I was worth it…
That’s true strength.
