You Are Not Fragile
Someone is trying to convince you that you are broken. Why?
Someone wants you to believe that if you are not careful, you will get hurt. Well, so what? Sometimes life knocks you down. It can be rough out there.
Life was rougher 100 years ago. Or 1000 years ago. Can you imagine life 10,000 years ago?
Guess what? You are the product of an ancestral line that survived through all the dangers life could throw its way. Do you really believe that you would be here today if your biology was so fragile?
The body that you are in evolved to be durable enough to survive all the insults life could throw its way. It could survive getting knocked down. It developed its own powerful repair mechanisms in order to bounce back from injury.
Yes, your physiology might be several of magnitudes weaker than your predecessors as a result of neglect. You’ve lived a rather sedentary life fuelled on processed foods and exposed to chronic stress and hidden from the sun so, no, you might not at this moment be equipped to go out and face down a sabre tooth tiger but somewhere in your DNA lurks the untapped potential.
The human body is strong and resilient. It had to be. So where did this culture of fear begin? How did you wind up believing that you are fragile or worse yet, already broken? How did you wind up believing that you need to be handled like a delicate heirloom? How did you wind up believing that you are only one injury away from the old age home?
Probably most of the people who convinced you of this were well-meaning. Probably even believe it themselves. But a cynical corner of my mind whispers that there’s a few who like to leverage your fear to earn a buck. The more powerless they keep you, the more power they retain.
It is in their interests to keep you broken or breakable. They hate the word Empower because Empowerment means liberation. Liberation from fear. And liberation from fear means liberation from control. Empowerment means freedom. The freedom to live the life you have always dreamed of. Free of fear.
Yes, you will fall down. Yes, you will suffer setbacks. But no, you will not be stopped. You can’t be. Because you’re not afraid. Your body was built for this. It was built to bounce back. Again, and again. It was built for play and for adventure.
Most doctors and physiotherapists have the best of intentions. Most of them honestly want to help you return to action. But many of them are misguided. And a few of them want to feed off your fear. A few will try to convince you that you cannot be whole without their help.
I am over 50. Every week I do CrossFit, Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing averaging 8 or so workouts per week, no rest days. It’s a rough and tumble lifestyle that comes with its share of sprains, strains and setbacks. And in 5 years, I have seen the physiotherapist exactly once. He was one of the good ones. He told me my shoulder would probably heal itself and gave me a few exercises to accelerate the process. He was right. I didn’t have to see him again. Great physio. Bad for business.
In my late 20’s I was sold on the belief that my body was irrevocably broken. Torn labrum, bulging discs, scoliosis of the spine, uneven pelvis and shoulders. Like Humpty Dumpty I was fed through a mill of chiropractors, RMTs, physiotherapists and sports medicine doctors whose services I could not function without. I was sold every expensive band aid that they could persuade me to buy.
In the end I was broke and still broken.
Jesus said “Physician, heal thyself.” Gospel of Luke (4:23). And I did. Over decades I’ve soaked up the knowledge and practices of the medical professionals as it was applied to treat my various ailments and, in the end, discovered they had few better tools for healing at their disposal than this one simple truth: just keep moving. Your body will do the rest. A good therapist can speed the process but only if they do not impede it.
You will know the difference by their speech. Do they speak in positives or negatives? Do they tell you: “Do this,” or do they say: “Don’t do that,”? The former can help you; the latter can only hinder. One speaks with faith in the human organism, the other in fear. One uses the language of Empowerment, the other seeks to disempower.
And what about you? Which do you choose? Faith or fear? Because at day’s end, it is only what you choose to believe that matters. As long as I continued to cling to my limiting beliefs, as long as I believed in my own fragility, I manifested that reality. It was only when I rejected it that I was set free.
It wasn’t a leap of faith. I did not transform my mindset overnight. But by repeated proof. Bit-by-bit I accumulated the evidence that my body could indeed heal itself. And as my confidence grew, my visits to therapists diminished until today, I live independent and empowered without fear.
Nature designed you to be strong, resilient and independent. It designed you to adventure and play and take risks. It designed you to fall down and to recover. You were designed to be powerful. There is a strength inside you that you have yet to discover.
When you feel your ego resisting this truth, ask yourself why? What stories would you have to give up in order to embrace it? What excuses would you no longer be able to hide behind? Are you really afraid of being broken or are you afraid of discovering you are unstoppable? What would it mean if you were unafraid? Who would you have to become? Why do you cling so stubbornly to limiting beliefs? Why do you take comfort in them? Why do you growl and gnash your teeth at anyone who threatens to disabuse you of them?
Speaking truth is dangerous. Jesus was hung on the cross for it. Socrates was given the choice of hemlock or banishment. Why do we hate the people who speak truth to us? Why do we fear to take an honest look in the mirror?
Someone lied to you. You are not fragile. Empowerment is yours for the taking.
Monday
Select a weight that you can complete in 2-3 sets per round.
Warm Up
2 Rounds
10/10 DB Pullover
20 Cross Crawl March
5/5 DB Half Kneeling Single Arm Shoulder Press
3x Agility Ladder
5/5 Single Arm DB Clean and Press
100 Single Unders
Tech
Dumbbell Push Press
WOD
800-400-200m Run
25-20-15 DB Push Presses
Finisher:
5 min T2B EMOM
