ODE TO KNEE SOCKS

The mornings are finally cooler so guess what time it is? Time to pull out the knee socks! I will admit that I have been doing CrossFit for over four years and only started wearing knee socks last year when I had my garage gym. They were my finest marketing tool! People wanted to know what was going on at that house where the girls worked out wearing knee socks.

I never wore knee socks before because, quite frankly, I thought I was too old for them. Knee socks were for Catholic school girls, not 40-something-year-old Moms. Little did I know how AWESOME knee socks make you feel! Seriously, you need to try them if you haven’t already.

When I wear my knee socks, I feel like a bad ass. Only a bad ass would walk around in knee socks with “DORK” knitted across them. Even better, knee socks make you feel silly. You can’t take yourself so seriously when you are wearing loud, bright polka dot knee socks. They are just good ‘ole plain fun, those knee socks!

So as I pulled on my first knee socks of the season this morning, I couldn’t help but think about how sometimes as we get older, we forget about having fun. This brought to mind a great Facebook status my friend, Jim Hall, posted last year:

Thank you, CrossFit, for lighting a fire in me. I have worked hard and worried long about throwing a ball against a wall, jumping a rope, and swinging from rings. You know the same stuff we did as kids at recess for the fun of it. I am not doing it to get paid so I can have a fancy house or exotic vacations. I am doing it for the love of it and the feeling of satisfaction I get from enjoying something for the pure pleasure of doing it, just like when we were ALL kids. No matter who you are or how old you are, find something and do it for the love of it. I may be 41, but the little 10-year-old boy inside me is about to go have some fun. You should too.

By the time you have reached your 40s, you have been around the block a couple of times. Most of us are so busy with work and raising families that we forget to take time for ourselves and do something we enjoy. We don’t often have the opportunity to learn a new skill just for the sheer joy of it. I still remember the excitement as a child of blowing my first bubble with some Hubba Bubba bubblegum!

A CrossFit gym is like a huge playground where you can learn a new trick, and afterwards, your friends will high-five you and tell you how awesome you are. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how fit you are. It is pure fun! There’s just not many opportunities for that as we grow older.

I hate to think about how stagnant my life would be if I had not been introduced to CrossFit. I have learned new skills I didn’t even know existed (Snatch? What’s that?). I have done things I never thought I would be able to do (unassisted pull-ups!). I have met the finest people of all ages and from all over whom I now call friends (too many to list!). Some of my happiest adult memories involve CrossFit.

Whether it is CrossFit or something else, take Jim Hall’s advice. Find something you enjoy just for the “pure pleasure of doing it.” Learn new skills. Have fun, and be a kid again. Don’t take life so seriously.

Oh! And don’t forget the knee socks!