A Beachbody, A Struggle & The Heart of Father

As is my usual Saturday morning practice, I sit in the stillness of my bedroom while everyone else is a sleep pounding the keys of this computer and sipping my morning coffee.  Last weekend was a struggle...no coffee.  My intimate relationship of 8 years with my coffee pot was broken off last Friday.  Leaving me with just the computer and a less than warm bed.

The struggle spilled far beyond my caffeinated beverage that was missing into something more that needed to take place.  Like many Americans, we fight for every dollar we make.  The coffee pot was the icing on the financial cake of demanding weekend.  There was flag football to register for, there was a band trip to sign up for and there is a little girl who steals my heart and I want to give her everything.  Factor in the utility bill that tips in somewhere around the weight of NFL defensive lineman and we were face to face with a Dave Ramsey More Month than Money type situation.  And it was just not feasible to make all of them happen.

I am a husband and father first and foremost.  As was handed down to me from generations of husbands and fathers from the earliest of my ancestors who hunted and foraged the land for food, you have the responsibility to provide for your family.  You wear that pride as you would a bear skin coat that you killed and skinned with your own two hands.  You want to provide for their needs and give them their wants because they are great kids and deserve that.  You want to give them moments and memories and at times that costs money. So when as a dad you can't, it is like having your bear skin coat stripped from you!

I am by default an incredible dreamer.  On the filp side of the coin, I am terribly lousy and making dreams reality.  So after a conversation with a good friend, who also has a background in ministry, I realized you just don't walk into a $80,000 job anymore.  And if we are being honest, that number just begins to touch what it takes to raise 3 kids, pay for 3 college degrees and I hate to think about it, 3 weddings.  Last weekends big revelation through a broken coffee pot was that whatever it is I do for a "job" will always leave us short of the dreams we want.  Momma always asked if money grew on trees, there's no forest nearby if it does.

If you are reading this post by now you know I am a Team Beachbody coach, in short, I help people with their health and fitness.  No I don't have a six pack, in part due to the cup in my hand that is filled with creamer in my coffee.  I did not join to get ripped, just to improve me.  I joined to get healthy and that I am.  I also joined with the hope of helping others.  

Here is another truth that I know, my Beachbody business is not another "job".  While my day work has an income ceiling, my business doesn't.  While my 40 hour struggle could never mathematically take my family to Disney, my Beachbody business can.  While money may not grow on trees, I have the opportunity to invest in a garden that if tended properly will produce great fruit.  While the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel has always been there, I have often been reluctant to run towards it.  (There is a whole nother blog post to deal with that).  As a dad of 3 amazing kids, what I hold in my hands is opportunity.  Opportunity to not put limitations on our dreams.  Opportunity to provide for their everyday needs and some moments they will never forget.

What I have is an opportunity to end the struggle!

A Moving WHY

As many of you already know if you have read any of my previous blogs, my main reason I started on this journey of health and fitness (other than running out of clothes that fit) was my three kids.  While that reason remains true, what I have found is that my WHY has become somewhat fluid.

My weight loss journey started as a runner and about a year and half ago progressed into being a Team Beachbody Coach.   Since then I have tackled programs like P90X, Insanity, Les Mills Combat, Focus T25 and two very uncoordinated weeks of Turbofire!  I became a coach for two reasons. One to help me stay accountable to my own health and fitness.  Two, in order to create some secondary income for my family.  While neither of those reasons have changed, I had my eyes opened wide this week.

My beautiful 6 year old daughter has tumbled into loving gymnastics and she's good!  In just 8 weeks she has progress from Division 1 to Division 3, which is an amazing accomplishment!  I have already done the math, we are on track for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games!

Here where my eyes were opened!  In a conversation, with another parent of an older gymnast, I found just what the price tag is on competitive team gymnastics.  Let's just say I could drive a very nice car for what the monthly fee is. I mean VERY NICE!

Nothing is more a driving force toward success than the needs and desires of your children.  While I wanted to be successful in my business for multiple reasons, that WHY expanded greatly knowing what lies ahead of our family if our little tumbler stays on beam toward becoming a world class gymnast.

Author George Barna wrote, "Realize the future is not something that just happens; it is a reality that is created by those strong enough to exert control over their environment."  That is the challenge that lies ahead.  Taking control of my environment to create a future where Avery has every opportunity to succeed.  This goes beyond her gymnastic future and spills into every opportunity for all three of my kids.  As a parent, your heart always bends toward wanting to give them everything.  While I may never be able to give them everything, the provision for the future will not just happen.  It requires a vision and a plan driven by one really BIG WHY that I want it to accomplish.  And today that why is the dreams of this little girl...