Rap Game

Preamble:

At approx 9:34 EST last Thursday at the F3 holiday party Pinkey and I shared a vodka infused moment and deeply bonded over our shared love of rap music.  The conversation sparked a boyish gleam in Pinkey’s eye like a kid coming down the stairs on Christmas morning…how about we do a Rap Q?  All rap songs filled with pearls of wisdom.  As DMX once eloquently wrote:

Stop, drop, shut em’ down, open up shop

Oh, no

That’s how Ruff Ryders roll.

Beautiful!!

Warm-O-Rama:

2 Loops around the Rubicon lot

Partner Carry–the sound of a grown man grunting in your ear at 5:30 AM

Weed Pickers and Hillbilly’s

The Thang:

Dora 1-2-3

100 Merkins, 200 Diamond Merkins, 300 Squats while partner runs.

Dips/Step Ups

4 Sets each with a partner of 50 dips while partner is doing step ups on other side of the bench.

Intermission–2 Indian run loops around parking lot to flush lactic acid.

Derkins/Box Jumps

4 sets each with a partner of 25 Derkins off the bench while partner is doing box jumps.

Bonus Round–50 Dips

5 Minute Mary Festival

COT:

Prayers for Devito’s brother.

Prayers for Lumbergh’s mother’s best friend who recently passed.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Here comes the naked man…

It’s hard as hell sometimes being a Dad.  For the first 10.5 years of my son’s life other than him getting frustrated on the baseball field at times we’ve felt that we’re making the proper calls to raise him to be a respectful and strong young man.  The past 4 months of this school year have been difficult with him getting into trouble at school and behavior that is not acceptable to the standard we expect in terms of respect and him learning from mistakes and growing from them.

Dealt with it again last night and during pillow time with M we both expressed thoughts of:

What are we doing wrong?  Where are we failing as parents?  When will we get this right?

Shared moments of TEMPORARY defeat.

Thank God I woke up this morning ready to face this challenge head on and challenge the man in the mirror.

We have a choice to make as men every single day when we wake up.  Not very few days…every single day…Am I willing and ready to FIGHT to win this day.  To WIN the day for my wife, to WIN the day as a father, to WIN the day on my journey to becoming the best man I can be for others.  I alone have to make that decision to tape my hands and be ready for the fight.  If not, something is coming to rob me of that growth whether it’s an internal dialogue holding me back or an external bounce that didn’t go my way.  Obviously, not every day feels like a heavyweight fight but I have to create and have the mindset from the jump that I will face whatever comes my way.

I’m learning defeat is only temporary…I will FIGHT to win this day.  I can’t worry and allow my mind to drift on how my son ends up down the road if he continues to make wrong choices there are some things that will inevitably be out of my control.  The one thing I can control is how I show up TODAY for my son and how I show up TODAY for others around me.

F3 guys tend to be men that have chosen to FIGHT.  I hope that as HIM’s in our daily sphere of influence we continue to embrace the fight every single day no matter how strong the opponent appears…as well as continue to  encourage those around us that are facing some temporary defeat in their lives when the bell rings to start the day they haul ass to the middle of the ring ready to attack.