Listen, Learn, and Grow

I'm writing to you from a position of gratitude but also one of introspection. I am so thankful to be part of such a diverse and inclusive community these past 12 years. The challenges we face together inside the gym forge meaningful and lasting bonds that transcend our 4 walls.

Back in January we released a revised Mission and Vision for Move Functional Fitness. “Everyone is Born To Move, and as fitness leaders, we stand United to this cause: To inspire personal growth, and build an inclusive community of strong, healthy, and capable individuals.”

These words express our deepest values, lessons we’ve learned over the past 12 years and beyond through both positive and negative experiences. This is how we see ourselves contributing to our greater community, using our unique skills and strengths to share a message of health and wellness.

What do those words really mean though, and how can we apply them in our daily lives?

By being vulnerable, through self discovery and working on our own weaknesses, we grow stronger physically and emotionally. We then have the capability to thrive in times of despair and in times of prosperity and to help lift up others when they need us. A group of strong individual creates a strong community and can impact the world with a greater depth and reach.

And so I encourage you to listen to your own thoughts, examine them, try to understand your emotional response, create space for yourself to learn, and GROW. Then listen to someone else’s story and do the same for them. Particularly those of your black friends, family, and neighbors. Those of people who have been marginalized and those who have been victimized. Those of people who have lived a life much different than than yours simply because of the color of their skin. The more we listen, the more we can begin to understand how connected we all are. How, on a basic level, we all want and need the same things.

So again, I am grateful for you all in helping us to bring this vision to light, in building our community for all to grow strong, healthy, and capable.