F3 Knoxville

PM Asylum — Surprise Birthday Q

THE SCENE: Perfect for a beatdown.  50 Degrees

WARM-O-RAMA:

47 4cnt SSH,  Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles, Seal Claps

Baseline:  Apolo OhNo’s, Snowboarders, Rocky Balboa’s, Karaoke, Skips, Bear Crawls

THA-THANG:
Battle Buddy Up, Slingshot up Cardiac.  1 partner does 100 yard dash, while other does Blockees.  Then, slingshot back.

Mosey to the do Pyramid Scheme

Battle Buddy, run opposite laps, and do exercises when you meet :  Merkins, Squats, Burpees, LBC’s

MARY:
Freddie Mercury’s, Superman’s, Planks

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Surprise 47 Birthday Q.  Read a study last week that figured out statistically 47 was the most unhappy year of someone’s life in the developed world.  You are most happy at 18.  The good news is that it is a Bell Curve and when you hit 67 you are once again as happy as you were at 18 years old.  I for one am going to give a middle finger to this idea and encourage all to make right now the best year of your life.  Love your kids more, Love your spouse more, Find Someone without friends and Love on them.  I have never heard of someone on their deathbed saying I should have loved less or volunteered less.  We all know that makes our heart full so encourage you to start now.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto and his continued Fight.  Prayers for Tony Williams and his family who passed away last week.

Filling the void

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy skies, temp about 31 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Quick run around parking lot, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That, Michael Phelps.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to parking lot across the street that is by the entrance way to the Northern Ball Fields.  We will going around the parking lot four times, doing one per lap, the exercises listed in each corner.  In moving around the parking lot we will go from one corner to the next as directed by the sign.

  • Corner 1:  20 Hello Dollies, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 20 Box Cutters (four count each exercise).  Sprint to Corner 2.
  • Corner 2:  20 Squat Jumps, 20 Star Jumps, 20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1).  Lunge to Corner 3.
  • Corner 3:  With CMUs – 25 Overhead Presses, 25 Curls, 25 Rows, 25 Squats.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 4.
  • Corner 4:  20 Merkins, 20 Bottle Openers (both hands = 1), 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1).  Hop to Corner 1.

Mosey to Flag Pole at Entrance Way to Northern Ball Fields.  We will run to following areas and do the following exercises:

  • Flag Pole:  20 American Hammers (4 count)
  • Benches at playground:  20 Bench Jumps
  • Dug out at ball field:  20 Seconds of Pull ups
  • Pavilion:  20 picnic table pull ups.
  • Rinse and repeat.

Mosey past batting cages to beginning of Cardiac.  We will go up Cardiac doing the following exercises at each of the following areas:

  • Curve 1:  10 Hand Release Merkins
  • Curve 2: 20 Dive Bombers
  • Curve 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Twelve men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God created us in His image.  He also created us for relationship with Him.  If we are without God, there is a void within us.  We as humans try to fill that void with other things besides God:  riches, power, success, or finding that perfect person who can take care of our needs.  But those things don’t work.  Only God can fill the void.

I used a song by John Mellancamp in a former message I gave and I want to use it again.  It describes the narrator’s attempt to fill the “void in his heart” with things that just don’t work.  He claims, “I did everything like they said so that I could find happiness.”  The problem is that he “is running from eternity” and trying to fill the void with worldly versus Godly things.  Toward the end of the song, the narrator, frustrated and questioning why the void in his heart remains, exclaims “Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.”  In other words, if you made me like I am why does this void remain?  The narrator is correct about the Lord making him like he is.  The Lord made each of us with a “void in our heart”.  And, He can heal the “restlessness” that the narrator suffers with.  We will all be unsatisfied until we fill the void with God.  We must look to God, fill our lives with what He gives us, to fill the void.  Listen to God.  What does God want for you?  What is He telling you.  What direction does He want you to go in with your life?  Focus on Him, read about Him, take His message in – there you will find the true stuff that fills the void in your heart.

John Cougar Mellencamp Lyrics
“Void In My Heart”
There’s a void in my heart
I can’t seem to fill.
Been a parent, had three children
And a big house on the hill.
Hundred dollar in my pocket
And it didn’t buy a thing.
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a hole in my dreams.
Well I poured miles of concrete
And strung wire for telephones,
Dug ditches when I was a young boy
When I first left my parents’ home.
Sang my songs for millions of people,
Sang good and bad news,
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a fire at my fuse.
Well I did everything just like they said
So I could find happiness.
Went to school and got a college degree
And at my job I did my best.
As I sit here alone tonight
I see a billion just like me
With a void in their hearts and running from eternity.
There’s a void in my heart I can’t seem to fill.
I do charity work when I believe in the cause
But in my soul it bothers me still.
Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.
Can You heal this restlessness?
Will there be a void in my heart
When they carry me out to rest?

God, my prayer to you is that each of us will see the voids in our heart and turn to you to fill them.  If we seek you, we will find the strength, comfort and love that can fill the void.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our brother, Pinto, who finished a recent bout of radiation treatment for cancer and will be also getting stem cell treatment along with chemotherapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We will be launching in Morristown on April 4.  We have received enough donations for the pull up bars and will be putting them up in the future.

Light poles and lazy Dora

THE SCENE: 40s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20 IC

Plank, then merkins x10 ic , plank, peter parkers x10

THA-THANG:

super 11s

  • Start and said #1 light pole, do one rep of each, Merkins, Big Boys, and Squats
  • Run 2 light poles, then run back one, do 2 of each above said exercise
  • Keep advancing 2 light poles and running back one until you complete 11 reps of the said exercises
  • once complete, start at 10 reps of each exercise and go back down to one, still advancing 2 light poles and running back on
  • Back at the AO, LAZY Doras, 100 merkins, 200 LBC, 300 Overhead CMU pressess(we got to 200) before time was up)
  • After the 100 merkins and before going onto the LBC, We sprinted or attempted to sprint around a short section of the park before Moses could finish 30 reps of 3 different exercises. (merkins, rows, and big boys)
  • After the LBC, we sprinted down the grinder and back before Moses could complete 20 reps of curls
  • Moses has a bum knee right now, hence the reason he was doing stationary exercises but gave us a reason to run hard for some cardio

MARY:
Flutters x 10

dollys x10

scissors x10
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 pax
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Stress. I just talked about Stress and the role it plays in our lives. yes, there are many things around us that give us stress but ultimately, we bring stress on ourselves. Stress is based on how we deal with things. For me recently, we just brought home 2 puppies! I have 3 young boys, a work schedule that could keep me working 60 hours a week, kids sports, spending time with the M,etc….LOTS of stuff going on right?! Well, I make my bed and I lay in it! Therefore, I could easily be stressed out but I know everything will work itself out so I try not to stress over it. PRAYER HELPS!! 🙂
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Ironies of Our Life Journey

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp in high 50’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 5 Burpees, 10 Windmills, Seven Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, Seven Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:

Mosey to the landscaped island parking lot located south of the Northern Baseball Fields.  Bricks will be located at the entrance of the parking lot.  Each man will pick up two bricks.  We will do a Modified Route 66 around the parking lot.  Each man runs five parking spaces, does one Mini-Man-Maker, then runs five more parking spaces, does two Mini-Man-Makers, etc until he finally does 11 mini-makers.

Mosey to roadside start of the Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will do a Route 66 on this sidewalk as it heads to the Park Perimeter Trail running along the waterway.  We will start with one Dive Bomber at the first light and end with eleven Dive Bombers at the eleventh light.

Mosey to the end of the Serpentine Sidewalk where it meets the Park Perimeter Trail.  We will do 10 Imperial Walkers as a group.

Mosey to the beginning of Cardiac Hill.  We will run up hill stopping to do the following exercises at each turn:

  • Turn 1:  20 Carolina Drydocks
  • Turn 2:  20 Diamond Merkins
  • Turn 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Turn 4:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey to Parking Lot that is by the entrance gate to the Northern Ball Fields.  Each man grabs a CMU.  We will do the following in cadence:

  • 20 Overhead Presses
  • 20 Curls
  • Drop CMU and sprint to end of parking lot and back
  • 20 Rows
  • Drop CMU and sprint to end of parking lot and back
  • 20 Chest Pushes
  • Drop CMU and sprint to end of parking lot and back
  • 20 Squats with CMU at Chest

Drop off CMU’s and mosey to Pavilion.  We will do 25 Picnic Table Pull-ups

Mosey toward parking lot with landscaped islands that we were at for the mini man makers.  Stop at grassy area by ball field.

Football challenge:  Lilydipper throws ball down field.  First to catch it and bring it back wins.  If you are tagged by anyone you must drop the ball immediately.

Mosey to landscaped parking lot to pick up bricks we had left off.

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
15 Boxcutters.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten men with one FNG, a friend of Goober’s who was visiting from Indiana.  His name is Daniel and we gave him the F3 name of Shrinkwrap.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I have been reading lately about Identity Formation because I have talked about that subject in a Sunday School Class at my church and to a group I met with in my work as a psychologist.  Eric Erickson’s theory regarding the states of Identity Formation is quite influential among psychologists.  You can Google either Identity Formation or Eric Erickson to read about the subject.  A very good book that talks about our growth in identify formation and as human beings is by a Catholic Priest named Richard Rohr.  It is called Falling Upward:  A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life.  Rohr talks about some important ironies for those who grow successfully as human beings (growing in the HIM type of way, not in the way the world might identify as successful such as in power, wealth or fame).

  1. The supposed achievements of the first half of life, we find, fall short.
  2. In our life journey we find that what we originally thought we were searching for is not truly what we are searching for.
  3. The way up, we find, is often the way down.
  4. We must sacrifice something to achieve something greater. Illustration:  the journey in literature.  (The Odyssey, Lords of the Ring, Harry Potter)
  5. Losing, failing, falling, suffering, and encounters with sin are a necessary part of the journey.
  6. It is often when the ego is most deconstructed that we can hear things anew.
  7. The demand for perfect is the greatest enemy of the good. (Rules and getting it right are more important in first half of life).
  8. Higher stages of development are often misunderstood and attacked by those in lower stages (think of how Jesus was attacked by leaders of “organized religion”).

MOLESKIN:

Prayer for Pinto whose mother passed away earlier this week.  Prayer for Hooker, her grandson, and Mr. Jinxy, her son-in-law.  Prayer for Goober’s friend, Bruce, whose mother and daughter died earlier this week.  Praise for the F3 brothers who were at Goliath last week and who did well there.  They also had a great bit of fun there.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coffeeteria!

Shedding the False Self

THE SCENE: Blue skies and temp about 70 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Bottle Taps, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Tempo Squats
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Light Post by Lower Parking Lot near trail that goes towards Lyons Bend Gate Entrance.  We will do Route 66 with the following exercises:

  • Star Jumps
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Iron Mikes with both legs forward = 1

We next will do 14’s with Bear Crawls (Bear Crawl 1 light and Run 4 lights in sequence) until we reach the road that goes to Lyon’s Bend Entrance Gate.  Next, we will do 14’s with Lunges (Lunge 1 light and Run 4 lights in sequence) until we get to the bottom of Mt. Everest.

At Mt Everest we will do 20 Merkins, 30 Squats and 40 Baby Crunches.  Then we will run to the road above the Summit.

Next, we will Mosey south on the roadway until it we are by the big tree as the road heads east toward the stop sign.  We will run down incline by the roadway.  We will then do sevens starting with one Hello Dolly on bottom of incline and six Burpees on top.

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
20 Box Cutters
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I am a psychologist.  I recently looked back on some literature discussing Eric Erickson’s research and theory regarding identity formation in human beings.  Eric Erickson was a German Developmental psychologist who moved to the United States and taught at Harvard, UC Berkeley and Yale.  In his theory regarding identity formation he stated that we humans go through various stages in life that help form our identity.  One stage, which generally occurs in adolescence, but which extends into adulthood, is what he called the stage of Fidelity.  You may have heard of the term “Identity Crisis.”  Erickson was the first to coin it. The conflict the human deals with in this stage is Identity vs. Role Confusion.  The individual grasps with who they are and what they want to become in their life.  That question of “Who Am I” encompasses vocation, sexual, and religious factors, among others.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists, Donald Winnicott being one of the most prominent, also talk about struggle between the False Self and True Self in terms of identity formation.  Winnicott theorized that we humans often take on the role of a false self in forming our identities – that identity relates more to what parents, teachers, or society wants from us than who we are authentically.  Winnicott felt that we are less spontaneous and real when living up to our false self ideals.  We are also more neurotic and psychological unfit when doing so.

If you look back on your adolescence you may remember your own struggles with identity development.  You may, further, remember trying to fit in with the popular crowd, trying to be the cool guy in high school, not wanting to be considered silly or atypical by others.  I can remember my son, Bennett (aka Puddle in F3) talking about changes that occurred for him during this stage.  He was trying to “fit in” with the way he dressed, with sports he played, even with the music he listened to.  He got to a point where he said “to hell with it”, I am going to be me.  He started wearing socks with his sandals because, well, he liked to when it was colder outside.  He later saw other people doing the same thing as him.  He decided he disliked some of the music that high school kids were listening to.  He found he liked Neil Young, Pink Floyd, stuff his Old Man liked.  But in exploring further, he found Indie music with groups that were influenced by artists like Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and groups like Pink Floyd, but who were creating their own music of a different sort.  He has led his Old Man (yours truly) to find and love some of these artists such as Jason Isbell, The Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Jack White, Raconteurs, and Shins.  Bennett found in exploring what he truly liked that other friends truly loved this kind of music as well.  And these seemed to be the kinds of people who were more passionate about music.  I remember taking a group of his high school friends to see 70+ old Neil Young play in an outdoor concert near downtown Nashville.  The kids were very into Neil Young as was this Old Man.

We continue to form our identities as we go further into adulthood.  We face identity crises at work, in our love lives, and in our search for what makes life truly meaningful.  Hopefully, we shed some of our false self skin in the process and get closer to our true natures that God gifted us with.  We, after all, were created in God’s image.  And, the Bible actually speaks of us shedding our false self skin, which it calls the “old self” , shedding what the world wants of us, and living out a “new self” which is what God created us for in the first place:

Collossians 2: 9-10:  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

1 John 2:15-17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto’s mother who is very ill and may be entering the final phase of her life.  Prayer for Pinto as well after injuring his ribs when moving some things for his mother.  Prayers for Messi whose wife has had seizures and may have to be operated on in the hospital.  Prayers for Squirtle’s ex-girlfriend whose 21-year-old daughter recently died of medical issues.