We will be doing Murph Saturday May 27th at 8:30 am!
Murph to a lot of gyms means different things but for our gym it is a day to honor not only a man but the integrity he practiced till his last breath and the teammate that pushed every last bit of himself to make sure the story of Murph was heard.
Its starts with a decision on a mountain. Murph and his crew were there only to get intel on the Taliban. Unfortunately, they were spotted by some farmers. Murph had a choice to make- kill the farmers that could potentially be says for the Taliban, or do as the mission dictated and get in, get intel, get out. He had a choice to make. Kill a possible spy or let a possible innocent man go. Did that decision cause their death most likely but he was a men that would rather die knowing he made a decision that lined up with his values. A decision, regardless of the consequences, that aligns with your values can never be a mistake.
Murph knew this was the end. He knew he wasn’t going to get home. He knew there was no hope for him to see his family. He knew all of that. And while knowing that he made another decision. He made a decision to give hope. Not hope for himself. Hope for one of his men to survive.
They were under fire in a valley with no reception so to give someone that hope Michael Murphy stepped into a clearing to make a call. That phone call sealed his coffin, and he knew that. Michael Murphy made a decision based on values, not on outcome.
All of us make a million decisions every single day, rarely are any of those decisions life or death. Every decision we make is a chance to move closer to our values or to move further away. Every interaction, every decision behind closed doors, every word you speak moves you in a direction- you decide which way you will go.
Will you be like Michael Murphy? Will you make a decision that aligns with your values even if the outcome is unpleasant, uncomfortable, causes conflict? Will you say yes to helping a friend even when it’s inconvenient, when there is nothing you can personally gain from it? Will you put your ego aside? That is what this day is about- not how many pull ups you can do, not if you beat last year’s time, not if you did it RX or with 5 people. Do you choose to make decisions that align with your values? And do your values move you closer to your community?
The friend that shared the story of Murph is in his own right amazing. He was the only survivor left for dead. He was seriously injured and woke from a concussion with all his friends dead. The easy decision there is to wait. His back was broken, his head and his brain were damaged- if you wait, if you don’t suffer then you die. And while dying seems like the worse decision always, seeing your best friends, your family dead around you knowing the suffering you must endure to only maybe survive- well dying then may not seem like the hard choice.
He chose suffering. He chose to move a stick little by little- he made a decision every 10 inches. He chose over and over again to suffer, to choose courage over comfort, to choose living over dying, to choose solitude over camraderie- for you see he was alone and he alone would bear the weight of surviving.
Then after choosing suffering and solitude again and again this man was met with a villager who again was faced with a choice. If he saved this American soldier he lost his home. He would risk his family’s safety. His life would be turned upside down. Or he could turn him in, the soldier dies, but the man’s life remains the same. This man had nothing to gain in helping an American military man but his values and integrity told him to risk everything to help the broken lone survivor.
Choices. Our lives are filled every day with choices. Choices that present opportunities to lean into our values, to declare what we stand for or what we fall for. Choices are rarely about the outcome. We don’t define choices by results. Choices are defined by our character and our character is defined by our choices.
As you take on this workout know that every choice matters. It matters if you keep moving. It matters if you put one foot in front of the other. It matters if you help the person beside you. It matters because we are our choices. This community is defined by our choices. We choose to be humble, hungry, and happy. We get to choose that every day. And I urge you to intentionally choose it over and over again far after this workout is done.
