10 minute AMRAP (As many rounds as possible):
10 One Arm DB Snatches
20 Tuck Jumps
30 Sit-ups
I get a kick out of watching people get astonished. Not astonished from watching a skyscraper collapse but astonished when they are surprised from having their expectations exceeded. You know that look on a person's face when they are thinking "their is no way this person can do this" or "I highly doubt this can be done" That look of uncertainty before you knock the ball out of the ballpark and restore someone else's confidence in you.
A lot of people are doubters. I think that is a good thing as it creates any opportunities to surprise, wow and astonish others.
It happened today in a class in a minor way. The SC veterans were teaching the athletes a new movement they have never seen before. On their first try, everyone seemed to struggle on the movement showing really bad form. Then it was some girls turn who never attempted the movement before. You can see the look on everyone's face pretty much thinking there is no way this girl is going to get that dumbell over her head let alone do it with grace and proper execution.
Everyone turned and watched as she crouched into an partial squat position, chest held high, head forward, feet in place and then glided the weight through the air as if it was a paper airplane. It looked effortless. You should of seen the look and reaction on everyone's face.
The girl did her best to hold back from smiling ear to ear and just made a little smirk with an expression as if she was thinking, "Ha how do you like that one punks...thanks for letting me show you!"
Who have you astonished today?
Each leaf,
each blade of grass
vies for attention.
Even weeds
carry tiny blossoms
to astonish us.
- Marianne Poloskey
The greatest discovery any outsider could make about Camden is it's overriding response to failure: If it didn’t work last year, do it AGAIN this year (and if possible do it MORE).
Every year they pass more laws, hire more police, build more prisons, and sentence more offenders for longer periods-all without moving one inch closer to “ending” crime. If it didn’t work last year or the year before that or the year before that or the year before that, but you can be sure we’ll try it again this year, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it won’t work this year either.
Every year they spend more money on schools, hoping to “fix” whatever’s wrong with them, and every year the schools remain stubbornly unfixed. Spending money didn’t work last year or the year before that or the year before that, but you can be sure we’ll try it again this year, knowing beyond shadow of a doubt that it won’t work this year either.
Every year they try to make the criminals go away, and every year they remain with us. We couldn’t shoehorn these criminals back into the “the mainstream” last year or the year before that or the year before that or the year before that, but you can be sure we’ll try it again this year, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it won’t work this year either.
Maybe its time to TRY something DIFFERENT.
Afterall, IF Camden is saved, it will not be saved by old minds with new programs but by new minds with no programs at all.
Much of my inspiration comes from Daniel Quinn in "Ishmael."
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