by Ellie Bishop McKenzie

As many of you know, I just went to Africa and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was quite a journey! And, as you may have guessed, part of my personal Journey to Extraordinary. You hear us talk about that phrase around here sometimes – but I know some of you are not on social media, so I wanted all of you to understand what we really mean by “Journey to Extraordinary”. It’s a lifestyle. And it’s not about having a 6-pack abs or a 22-inch waist. It’s about living your most amazing, most beautiful life. It’s about the things we DO – not the way we look.

Birthday Challenges.

On that note of doing great things, I began a new tradition a few years ago. It began when out of the blue I decided to see if I could do a legless rope climb on my 48th birthday. I succeeded and decided that was my birthday present to myself – to achieve something really difficult that I didn’t think I could achieve.

After that, every year became a new challenge. For my 50th birthday, I hired a coach and learned how to do a standing back flip. My little brother used to do them when I was growing up and it always annoyed me that I couldn’t – or was too chicken. For 51 I walked 51 steps unbroken on my hands. For 52 I stepped it up and went skydiving (thank you to John for that gift!). My 53rd birthday my dad was dying and I spent that time with him – which only made me realize how important these incredible moments are and how little time I could have left to do all the things I wanted to do.

So, for 54 I learned how to wakeboard (something I never accomplished as a kid or young adult) and for 55 I went BIG – and I decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Not only did I decide to go, I decided to take a group from the gym – anyone interested in their own “Misogi”.

Misogi.

In the Shinto faith, ‘Misogi’ means water cleansing. Standing under an icy waterfall purifies the soul and prepares one for the rest of the year. Today, misogi has extended into a personal development and transformation approach.

Two “rules” of Misogi:

• 1. It must be really freaking-ing hard and
• 2. Don’t die.

All in all, you should have about a 50% chance of completing it.

Two other “soft rules” to consider:

• 1. Make it creative, far out, uncommon. They must be YOUR challenges. It is You against You.
• 2. Don’t advertise. Misogis are inward facing. I’m telling you about mine so that I can help YOU create your own adventures. I am not going to quit because I am watching… Not anyone else. (Did you really do what you think is the right thing when you were the only person watching?)

It’s all part of what Joseph Campbell called The Hero’s Journey – the hero exits the comfort of home for adventure; he is hit with a test of his physical, psychological, and spiritual fortitude; he struggles, yet he manages to prevail. He returns with heightened knowledge, skills, confidence, and experience, and a clearer sense of his or her place in the world. (The Comfort Crisis, by Michael Easter)

It is similar to Odysseus’ Journey home in The Odyssey, for which we named our gym, and why our tagline is “Journey to Extraordinary”. Notice, it’s an action statement, not a thing. It is our job, our duty to live, adventure, and yes, journey through life’s difficulties as well as the amazing places we can find and things we can do. And the exciting part is that we get to do it with all of you.

For me, this Misogi was not only climbing a mountain. It was putting myself first, setting aside the time and money (as a single mom) to make it happen, leaving my family and business behind and trusting that all would be ok while I’m gone, taking the trip and testing myself physically, mentally and emotionally.

The Return Home.

As I have returned home I keep trying to put everything into words to describe this trip but there is so much to say it’s hard to put it all together. So I decided to begin this blog, Journey to Extraordinary, not just about this trip, but about all of our adventures here at Odyssey and what they mean to us deep down. Because it’s not about the bragging rights and it’s not about marking it off a “To Do List”.

In fact, as we returned home, many of us found some depression – the hamster wheel of life seems incredibly insignificant and pointless after something so big. But it does force you to reevaluate your priorities and figure out exactly how you are going to live each moment so that your ONE JOURNEY here on Earth is indeed Extraordinary.

Stay tuned. Day one to come.

If you are interested in joining us on our Journey to Extraordinary, either in fitness classes or in fun trips to live our best lives, please feel free to contact us here at CrossFit Odyssey.