All right, right off the bat I need to admit the sad truth, I have no idea how to be cool. For some reason or another, this is something that’s passed through my head a bit over the summer. I think it has a lot to do with being around a ton of teenagers (what with coaching baseball and the majority of my athletes are in their teenage years) and this age group tends to have “coolness” as a primary concern on their minds. For me, the idea of coolness is a really great topic. Take the unprofessional word out and keep the context, and this is something we all think about at some point in our lives a good deal. We want to fit in, we want to stand out, we want to be impressive, we want to represent something, we want respect, call it want you like, but in the end, we just want to be cool!
This is why we do certain things in our life. Think about it, for us CrossFitters, it’s so damn cool to lock a heavy weight out over our heads. It’s cool to string together a bunch of kipping pull ups (it sure as hell isn’t healthy, so why else would we do it?!), it’s cool to collapse on the floor after giving our all on a workout. We embrace these aspects of our life just like the rapper embraces his “bling”, a hipster his/her vintage t-shirt, the Yogi his/her lululemon outfit. We have an idea of what gives us a bunch of confidence, and those things are cool to us. But how is it that some people can be all decked out in perfect gear, drive a sweet car, live in an awesome house, have a great partner and still somehow just not be cool? Well, it’s a matter of feeling comfortable.
I think that most people would say that confidence equals cool, but I disagree. I actually know a good deal of people who are pretty confident, who just aren’t all that cool. What I think is that it has more to do with just being comfortable in your own skin. That’s how people can seem so damn cool yet when you break down their life, it just doesn’t seem to add up. You see, so many of us get caught up in the idea of materiel things being the “cool-maker”, but in the end, it’s really just our ability to be comfortable with who we are and what we have. So this begs the question of course, how do we do that?
Well, again, I am sure as hell not an expert at cool, but I do know that being comfortable comes with understanding who you are and what you represent. If you are passionately pursuing the things you love in life, and if you are not wasting your time attempting to be a part of things that don’t fulfill you, you’re probably a pretty comfortable person. And if you’re comfortable, well, you’re probably pretty cool. Are you doing what you do because you love it, or because you think it’s what you should be doing? This is the simple question I recommend asking whenever you do anything in your life. If you are wearing something, or going places, or doing things for any reason besides loving it like crazy, you just might be involved for the wrong reasons and “forcing it”. And it’s pretty obvious all around that people who force things in life are totally not cool!
I need to point out something here, this does not mean that I’m opposed to enjoying materiel things! And in line with my wonderfully brutal honestly from time to time on this blog, I have decided to make a couple lists here: first, what I think is cool!
Locking out a heavy weight overhead alone in a dark gym
Running barefoot in the woods
Three-piece suits
Bracelets
Unkempt facial hair
Single speed bikes
1960’s and 70’s muscle cars
Holding a baseball bat
Sprinting
Plating a finished meal
Fedoras
Anything and everything Batman
Bandanas
Hanging out in outdoor stores (like REI and such)
Ha, well, as I write the list I realize that I could go on forever with that because it’s fun thinking about things that I like and think are cool. In fact, I throw out to all of you that you should make a list of what YOU think is cool. I’m reminded of the great monologue by Crash Davis in Bull Durham where he lists off all the things he believes in (if you haven’t seen the scene or the movie, get with the program and go watch it!). There’s something very freeing about announcing the things you like/love/believe in. And if it occurs on a whim, the truth comes out! Sometimes you might even begin your list, and all of a sudden realize that you are listing things off that don’t mean anything to you. And the second you do this, you can become aware that you are forcing things. Cool comes from deep within, what your true, inner personality honestly loves. Find out what’s deep down there and you’ll become the most comfortable, cool person in the world!
Thanks for letting me ramble! No go find yourself an be YOU!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
This is why we do certain things in our life. Think about it, for us CrossFitters, it’s so damn cool to lock a heavy weight out over our heads. It’s cool to string together a bunch of kipping pull ups (it sure as hell isn’t healthy, so why else would we do it?!), it’s cool to collapse on the floor after giving our all on a workout. We embrace these aspects of our life just like the rapper embraces his “bling”, a hipster his/her vintage t-shirt, the Yogi his/her lululemon outfit. We have an idea of what gives us a bunch of confidence, and those things are cool to us. But how is it that some people can be all decked out in perfect gear, drive a sweet car, live in an awesome house, have a great partner and still somehow just not be cool? Well, it’s a matter of feeling comfortable.
I think that most people would say that confidence equals cool, but I disagree. I actually know a good deal of people who are pretty confident, who just aren’t all that cool. What I think is that it has more to do with just being comfortable in your own skin. That’s how people can seem so damn cool yet when you break down their life, it just doesn’t seem to add up. You see, so many of us get caught up in the idea of materiel things being the “cool-maker”, but in the end, it’s really just our ability to be comfortable with who we are and what we have. So this begs the question of course, how do we do that?
Well, again, I am sure as hell not an expert at cool, but I do know that being comfortable comes with understanding who you are and what you represent. If you are passionately pursuing the things you love in life, and if you are not wasting your time attempting to be a part of things that don’t fulfill you, you’re probably a pretty comfortable person. And if you’re comfortable, well, you’re probably pretty cool. Are you doing what you do because you love it, or because you think it’s what you should be doing? This is the simple question I recommend asking whenever you do anything in your life. If you are wearing something, or going places, or doing things for any reason besides loving it like crazy, you just might be involved for the wrong reasons and “forcing it”. And it’s pretty obvious all around that people who force things in life are totally not cool!
I need to point out something here, this does not mean that I’m opposed to enjoying materiel things! And in line with my wonderfully brutal honestly from time to time on this blog, I have decided to make a couple lists here: first, what I think is cool!
Locking out a heavy weight overhead alone in a dark gym
Running barefoot in the woods
Three-piece suits
Bracelets
Unkempt facial hair
Single speed bikes
1960’s and 70’s muscle cars
Holding a baseball bat
Sprinting
Plating a finished meal
Fedoras
Anything and everything Batman
Bandanas
Hanging out in outdoor stores (like REI and such)
Ha, well, as I write the list I realize that I could go on forever with that because it’s fun thinking about things that I like and think are cool. In fact, I throw out to all of you that you should make a list of what YOU think is cool. I’m reminded of the great monologue by Crash Davis in Bull Durham where he lists off all the things he believes in (if you haven’t seen the scene or the movie, get with the program and go watch it!). There’s something very freeing about announcing the things you like/love/believe in. And if it occurs on a whim, the truth comes out! Sometimes you might even begin your list, and all of a sudden realize that you are listing things off that don’t mean anything to you. And the second you do this, you can become aware that you are forcing things. Cool comes from deep within, what your true, inner personality honestly loves. Find out what’s deep down there and you’ll become the most comfortable, cool person in the world!
Thanks for letting me ramble! No go find yourself an be YOU!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
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