THE SCENE:  48 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Overhead clap IC x 8
Seal jacks IC x 8
Hillbilly walkers
Knee tap merkins
Mountain climbers
Monkey humpers

Grab a block…

Tempo curls
Tempo shoulder press
Tempo squat
Let it hang

THA THANG:

Heavy suicide.  Rifle carry CMU to line 1.  25 heavy freddies (4 ct).  Mosey carry back.  30 CMU curls.  Repeat with lines 2 and 3.

Bearicide – Bear crawl 1 line, do 1 donkey kick, crawl bear back, do 1 CMU thruster.  Repeat w/ lines 2-7, donkey kick and thruster reps equal the number line (e.g. line 7 = 7 donkey kicks and 7 thrusters…)

Doracide.  Partner up.  P1 runs to first island and does 2 burpees then back, run to second island and does 2 burpees then back.  P2 does exercises.  Switchero.
Team does 100 CMU squat curls, 150 uneven merkins, 200 heavy LBCs

Block work with serpentine run.  20 Triceps. 15 curls, 10 shoulder press.  Run serpentine around the islands (about ¼ mile total).  Sprint the straights, jog the curves.

MARY:

Sprint to a line.  First one there calls out an ab exercise and leads IC.  Got through flutter kicks, pickle pounders, pickle pointers.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

9 plus 3 Rushers

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Inspiration for this morning’s Word came from the Hardship Hill race, which several of us competed in two weeks ago.  The event was raising funds and awareness for Operation Enduring Warrior, an organization that provides rehabilitation opportunities for wounded military and law enforcement veterans.  As the race was being introduced, a combat veteran came to the microphone and said this… “Two years ago, I went onto the back deck of my house, put a gun into my mouth, and pulled the trigger.”  Mercifully, the gun misfired.  He went on to start working with the awesome men and women of OEW.  That organization helped him rehabilitate, and now he is helping others work through trials.

Closer to home… The division I work in has 19 people – about half are my staff, about half are my peers.  Last summer, we had an intern – an engineering student from UT.  For 8 weeks, he worked with us 8 hours a day, sat near us, ate with us, and laughed with us.  At the end of the summer, he went back to school to finish his senior year – and we talked about having him back during Christmas break.  But by this time last year, he was dead.  That young man who had just spent so much time around me and my colleagues had killed himself.  You know what?  None of us had any idea that he was suffering from depression.  We spent months living most of our days right next to him, and we had no idea.  I’ve replayed conversations with him – and cannot think of one word he said that indicated he was suffering.

Quick story to make a point…

“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible…”  That was the first line in a speech given by Teddy Roosevelt 108 years ago today – October 14, 1912.  The second line was a bombshell – and it revealed why he needed utter silence from the crowd that evening… “I don’t know whether you fully understand…that I have just been shot”. 

The 53-year-old former president was in Milwaukee, campaigning for a third term.  He stepped out of his hotel and into an open car waiting to take him to an auditorium where he would deliver a speech.  As he stood up in the open-air automobile and waved his hat, a would-be assassin fired his Colt .38 revolver straight into Roosevelt’s chest.  Roosevelt reached inside his heavy overcoat and felt a dime-sized bullet hole on the right side of his chest. Having handled guns as a hunter, a cowboy, and an officer during the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt knew enough to put a finger to his lips to see if he was bleeding from the mouth. When he saw that he was not, he concluded that the bullet had not entered his lung.  An accompanying doctor naturally told the driver to head directly to the hospital, but Roosevelt gave a different order; “You get me to that speech.”

They took Roosevelt to the arena.  He went to the podium and stunned his audience by opening his shirt to show the bleeding wound.  Then he took out his manuscript, showed that the bullet had passed through it, and said, “…(this) probably saved me from (the bullet) going into my heart.”  His nervous aides positioned themselves around the podium to catch him if he collapsed, and they begged him to stop speaking.  He answered their petitions with a glare – and went on to give an 87-minute long speech…with that bullet still lodged in his chest (what a dude!).

After the campaign event, Roosevelt went to a hospital.  X-rays showed the bullet lodged against his fourth right rib – and confirmed Roosevelt’s self-diagnosis.  The bullet had halted on an upward path to his heart.  It had been slowed by the manuscript – a 53-page speech, folded double, and held in his breast pocket.

The message is this; the way you use your words can save your life. 

The point:  If you are depressed, don’t suffer alone and in silence.  The way you use your words can save your life…  If you can tell someone, “I need help… I need prayer… I’m depressed… I have thoughts of killing myself...” – those words might just save your life…

If you are suffering with depression or thoughts of suicide – brother, TALK TO SOMEONE.

Talk to me or anyone else in F3.  Talk to another trusted friend, or a minister, or a counselor, call a hotline and talk to a total stranger…just talk to someone.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 (The Message translation).  “By yourself you’re unprotected.  With a friend, you can face the worst.  Can you round up a third?  A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”  Maybe you think that your confidant will react with alarm or judgement – but don’t believe that lie for a second.  What you’ll hear is some version of, “It took real balls to share that with me – thank you.  Now, let’s do the work to get you through this and back on your feet.”

One CDC study has estimated that a little over 40% of your peers have experienced symptoms of depression during COVID, and 11% (ELEVEN PERCENT!!!!) have seriously considered suicide.  White men are a high-risk population – dying at 3.5 times the rate of other demographics.

Men, we must talk to each other about hard things.  We must listen closely to each other and remain alert for signs of a brother in despair.  We must look out for each other and speak life to one another. 

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  Proverbs 18:21 (CSB)

MOLESKIN:

Around the time COVID started, I remember somebody posting on the F3 main chat an alarming statistic about an uptick in suicides – particularly in men.  The response to that post was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen a group of men do – several posts rapid-fire, all with the same basic message, “if you need to talk, call me!” and a phone number.  I’ve never been prouder to be a part of this remarkable group of men. 

T-Claps to Steam and Tank for talking about depression and suicide awareness during Episode 2 of the F3 Knoxville Podcast. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence at the Bomb Shelter this Saturday.