Having a baby, changing jobs, different responsibilities, and buying or selling a house are all life situations that come with big adjustments to our daily lives. These changes are not optional once things have happened. By the time we may realize what each entails, we are either prepared, or we need to scramble to catch up.

With these changes, our reaction to them, when the dust settles and we must step up to the tasks, reflects our preparedness. In some cases, we realize we are woefully unprepared and have to spend significant energy shoring up our defenses (or offenses in some cases) to handle the situation. In other areas, things happen effortlessly, as the groundwork has been laid for many years.

When the foundation is strong and the practice reps have been put in, day after day, we see the benefit immediately. Our first attempts may be faltering, while we wake up those areas of strength, but in general, after a few times, we’re in stride, as our practice comes into focus.

CrossFit has always been a program of preparedness. Every day is “training,” while we rarely need to use the full force of our hard earned fitness. Yes, day to day we benefit from strength, flexibility, wisdom in understanding our limits, and many other mental and physical benefits that come from a consistent focus on our health, fitness and mindset. But, the day we need to bring it all to bear on a situation truly shows how prepared we really are. We either step into well worn grooves where our arrow falls smoothly into the bow and we focus on our target quickly, or we fumble, and spend far more effort balancing and getting things into place before we are ready to hit the target.

In life, outside of the gym, spending time with our family, building habits of reading together, sitting down at the table for meals and thanking God together for His blessings, growing our relationships and understanding of each other rather than our knowledge of sports lore or car parts (tip-toeing here! :) ), and having real conversations where the rest of the busy world is set aside and truly listening to others, helps build that foundation day in and day out.

Things like going to the gym every morning at a certain time, no matter how you feel, reading your Bible or devotional daily, getting home and spending time with your family outside, saving a small amount in a savings account each week, eating at least one healthy meal a day, are all simple, basic things we can do to build our foundation. Through each, depending on the storm that comes, physical, mental, spiritual, financial, etc, we’ll have put in the time to have the tools and abilities to lean into those areas with strength, and weather them.

Things like this aren’t complicated, and in the moment, seem insignificant. But, when they are needed, we look back and understand what all of the work and preparation was for. Sometimes, we don’t understand what God has been doing until we look back.

In those moments we’re humbled, and thankful for the gentle, yet many times painful, preparation we were provided through the years. Don’t let go of the daily work. It is worth it.