What if we asked the people who know you best to describe you in three words; how do you think they would answer? Now, what if we asked you the same question, to describe yourself in three words; how would you answer? Keeping those words in mind, ask yourself: Is there a discrepancy between how my loved ones would describe me and how I would describe myself? Or, how about this: How would you answer if we asked you how you wish people would describe you? Now ask yourself : Is there a discrepancy between how my loved ones would describe me and how I wish they would describe me?

It is so easy to become pigeonholed into an identity that we may or may not have intended, that we may have outgrown years ago, or that just doesn’t feel true but feels safe enough, that meets everyone’s expectations: “great wife,” “loving husband,” “caring mother,” “hard-working father,” “conscientious daughter,” “skilled nurse,” “fun coach,” “effective teacher,” a “good” person, a “happy” person, a “doer,” a “thinker,” a “loner.” I don’t think most people would argue that there are worse things one could be called, but the point is that we are so much more than our most obvious characteristics, aren’t we?

I challenge you to complicate things. Don’t make it so easy for others to come up with three words to describe you. Unleash the inner fire breather, the badass, the beast, the goofball, the tinkerer. Show off your selfish, tough, or brave side a little more. Perhaps these less obvious characteristics are ones that those closest to you won’t understand or appreciate, but know this: At Crossfit Ocean Isle Beach, you are safe to try them on, to test them out, to become whomever you wish to be.