Category: Uncategorized

Build strong relationships starting with trust.

The importance of building strong relationships and trust. Standing up for you people.

When I was a child I grew up in an area where the families that made up our community were all “different”. Some families consisted of single mothers, some were led by grandmas and grandpas, our skin colors weren’t the same, many times the language we spoke at home varied amongst families, but for me as a young child this was my norm.

In our community relationships were important. One mother would do basketball drop off, the other would do pick up. One mother had to work late so the other mother would cook dinner. One mother wanted to try and have somewhat of a social life, so the other mother had the kids for a sleep over etc. As a child, our community very much took the “all hands on deck” approach to raising us children. One day our dishwasher needed repairs. The repair man stopped by after school and like always after school the neighbor kids were over at our house and I was cooking fo them. I remember being in the kitchen and the repari man saying to me “Does your mother know you have all these **(a derogotory term that was supposed to be identifying my friends) running around her house?” I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing. We will leave it at… this man was immediately asked to leave and never welcomed back into our home. Although, I started this off by saying that us families were “different” I only meant on face value. The important thing to note is we were more the “same” then we were “different”. The best gifts in life are the relationships we form. Building strong bonds and stand up for those bonds is a vital part of our well being. There are countless rewards that come from building healthy relationships with others. One of the reasons why we created our facility was because we wanted to be surrounded by likeminded people who wanted to work hard. We wanted one place in this world where “different” didn’t exist and everyone was welcomed!

Our facility strives to be a place where people can come and form healthy relationships that benefit everyone. Some people say, “their gym is just a gym, ya know? It facilitates making better athletes”. At CFJG we are proud that our facility not only makes better athletes, but focuses on making us all better people.

Vanessa

Give everything you can

Always offer kindness. Give more than you take.

My sister is ten years older than I am. While my mom was working hard as a single parent to support us 5 children, my sister stepped up to help raise us younger siblings. life as a child wasn’t always the easiest, my parents fought a lot, and even more so once they were divorced. Us childrend spent a good deal of time being exposed to the unkind side of our parents (towards each other), unfortunately. Perhpas because of this, kindness mean so much more to us.

As siblings, we all went above and beyond to support each other and just show each other unconditional love. We were taught that this way of interacting, is how we should treat everyone we meet (that everyone deserves kindness). My sister told us to always offer kindness and encouraged selfless acts of giving. whether this was a kind word, a smile or the offer of a helping hand. From a young age i was taught to give, this can really be done at any time with no cost to ourselves. My sister used to always tell us “if you have a sandwich and someone is hungry, offer up the sandwich”. She would then go on to say ” there is no doubt in my mind you’re more than capable of find your next meal, others may not be as resourceful or fortunate”. we learned that giving to other is a way to also give back to ourselves. We know that acts of kindness have been shown to improve our own happiness in addition to the happiness of others.

Why it matters to you

“There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own hear is our temple, the philosophy is kindness”. Dalai Lama. Offering kindness and knowledge to all because that is the humanly thing to do. at CFJG kindness is key, it cost nothing, means everything and is the best facilitator of positivity.

Vanessa

Truth may hurt but not as much as being lied to…

Honesty… is to give an objective look at something and calling it for what it is. With no prejudice, no judgement. Honesty is required for a relationship of any kind to be mutually beneficial. At CFJG, we get our fulfillment from your success, you gain success through your trust in us. Honesty is the foundation in which we build that trust. You must trust your coaches to take their guidance no matter how great that guidance is, it is useless without its application.

Where does this value come from?

I can remember a very specific event in my life when I learned what broken trust was and how it affected relationships in life. In a sense it was a great moment because of the value it created in me. That moment was when I realized that someone I had trusted more than anyone, had purposefully and selfishly lied to me. I remember how I felt: angry, decieved, lonely, like noone could ever be trusted again. I threw a phone through my dads wall. He was not happy but when he asked why? He only gave me a hug, got a patch and the spackle.

Why does it matter to you?

That feeling of being deceived sits with me everyday… i would never want to feel that way. Especially if it was because of me or of a place that was supposed to promote health and well being. We promise to be honest becasuse we don’t like to be lied to.

Dishonesty brings no good. Honestly will build a strong foundation and community of people who can accomplish anything.

It May be a long treacherous road but it’s worth taking…

Perseverance is the ablility to take on challenges with stamina and continue through until the end. this is a value of many successful peoaple, businesses, families and teams. adversity is a certainty, overcoming it can be too, with perserverance. success does not come easy nor should it.

Where does this value come from?

There have been a million instances in life that have perpetuated perservearance in my blood but my fathers example is where it started. There was a time in my life, actually more than once where homelessness was a real fear, the first time was after my parents divorce. My dad worked full time, plus a weekend part time job and worked with my uncle installing carpet when he could. He didn’t have any quit in him, he did that for 4 years. He did wahtever it took to make sure we had food, a place to sleep and didn’t have to worry (though i often did). When I first moved halfway across the country, i realized that i would need that same sort of perserverance to make it by “myself”.

My first job after college was at the Hamilton Fitness Center which has since been shut down… I lived in Morrisville and I had to ride my bike to work everyday, rain or shine. It was about a 10 mile ride on the canal trail, 45-55 minutes depending on conditions. Most days started at 5 or 6am so that meant I was peddling my bike starting around 4. I would train the morning shift, sleep in the daycare or the locker room, train the evening shift until 8pm then ride home. There was one point when my entire paycheck went to the rent and all I had was a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and a box of bisquick and $1.96 in my bank account. But I persevered through that tough time, because of the example my dad set. You will figure it out, because you have no choice but to figure it out.

I like to be around people who sersevere through adversity. It inspires me.

WE ALL GET BETTER WHEN WE PERSEVERE!