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**brought to you via questions from EPW readers** Things have been hard lately. Work's not as steady as it always is, money's tight, and you just moved. The worst part? You're now unable to find time to get to the box. Now instead of the usual 5 minute drive over, your commute is 80 minutes. You're missing out on all of your friends and the awful workouts and the fun.
You can handle it for a couple of months. You're like, "okay, this is the month I'm going to do better at managing my time" but after 3 months of paying your dues and only making it over there twice, you come to the realization that this isn't going to work.
You have to break up with your gym. Breaking up is hard to do. It's hard enough to have to tell your box owners, "hey, I gotta go," but how do you leave your friends? How do you leave this place that you call home and these people you call family? Eventually, you come to terms with it, right? Right. Because you have to do what you have to do and you feel like everyone will understand that. Unfortunately, not everyone understands that all the time. All of a sudden, people that you totally loved and cared about at the gym are giving you the cold shoulder.
There are like, a million CrossFits just on the west side of Houston alone. If we had beef with everyone who went to a different box/chose to go their own fitness route...we'd literally hate EVERYONE.
No, it isn't everyone. You have a few that still call, you still hang out, y'all do non-box-things. But when you catch some former box mates out, it's like you don't exist. Sometimes, they're not very nice and that sucks. What's awesome about CrossFit is that it's diverse. It brings a TON of different people together. What sucks about CrossFit is that sometimes people are so diverse that you and the people you meet only have that thing in common: CrossFit at [insert box here]. So if you're gone, you may not have anything in common to that person anymore. Does it suck? Yes. Is it right to let go of a relationship because you switched boxes/moved/whatever? No. So what do you do? Fight them. Obviously. Just kidding. Let it go (let it goooooooooooo!) Because, honestly, the true friends that you've made through your box will still be your friends. They'll understand your situation. They'll include you. They'll come visit you in an entirely different state just because. Because they're your friends and not just an acquaintance that happens to do the same stuff as you. Friends will text you about your new PR and ask your opinion on the new nanos no matter what box you're at or what path you've taken. They will NOT ignore you, be ugly, or make snide comments--because we're not supposed to be about that shit! So when you see a CrossFitter out, old box mate or not, smile. Say hi. Be friendly (even if they aren't). Because that's what our community is supposed to be about: community.
