Wisconsin Notes:
– Byyyyyyyyyyyye
– Don’t forget – Koats for Kids drive next Wednesday! Bring your gently used kids outerwear, its a great way for the community to give back as the winter rolls in.
– If you came here for a workout re-cap you will be sorely disappointed. Just sappiness from here on out, I promise. Sorry, its a long one.
Yikes. Usually these blogs flow pretty easy once I get started, but despite thinking about this one for weeks it doesn’t seem to be coming easily to me. I’m not used to being at a loss for words, it is kind of unsettling.
There’s no beating around the bush here; I am retiring from my position as Co-Leader of the November Project Winnipeg Tribe, and it feels very bittersweet at the moment. There’s no question that the decision is what is right for me and where my life is at, but that certainly does not make it any easier. Getting to experience building the tribe alongside each and every one of you over the last three years has been nothing short of incredible, and without a doubt one of the most impactful experiences I have ever had. For every moment we have had over the last three+ years, the ups and the downs, I am truly grateful and would do it all again in a heartbeat.
I’d like to take a quick moment to talk about my decision to retire. As some of you know, I had what is commonly known in running circles as a “bonk” – in this case, a life bonk of epic proportions. I have been quite ill for the past month with pneumonia, which caused me to miss the better part of three weeks of work and school (I won’t go in to details but basically I turned 88 and this comes with the territory. Don’t get it, it sucks mucho big time). I do not blame November Project for getting sick; thats all on me. I was going to hard in all aspects of my life and not giving myself the proper time for rest and recovery. That, however, did not weigh in to my decision to step down. Truth be told I mentioned to Derek and Megan over the summer that I would be looking to exit sometime in the fall, and we had ultimately decided on December 1 (our planned holiday gathering) as a good time to transition me out – who wouldn’t want to go out with an epic party?? However, getting sick and needing to rebalance the priorities in my life the last few weeks has caused me to move up that date, and here we are.
If i’m being honest, Derek and Megan have been carrying the leadership aspects of the tribe for the better part of the last year. I showed up for the occasional bounce and to yell a bit, but all of the hard work of planning social events, creative new workouts, and all the little things that happen behind the scenes have been coming from them. Hell, I don’t even remember the last time I wrote a blog. After doing this for over three years it was just becoming a part of life, something I did every week – and I knew deep down that carrying on with this attitude wasn’t fair to the tribe or myself. You are all getting out of bed and sacrificing precious hours of sleep because you truly value the effort we put in to building new and exciting workouts every week. If I am not fully committed to doing that I am doing you all a disservice by staying involved.
Enough of the sad stuff. I am incredibly proud to be leaving the leadership of the tribe in the hands of Derek and Megan. Since bringing them on they have continued to exceed my expectations and surprise me with their energy and commitment to making this a community that people want to be involved in. With amazing events like the Great Skate, Dragon Boating, NP Scavenger Hunt, and our awesome “Showing Up” premiere last year, they have done a killer job at helping to create a real community both during and outside of Wednesday mornings. I am super confident in their ability to lead this tribe forward and continue to make an inclusive, fresh environment for all of us to enjoy.
I won’t speak for them too much here, but my understanding is that they have decided to stick with two leaders for a little while. Winters are typically a little smaller in numbers so it is a little bit easier to manage with two people than in the summer. There is definitely an opportunity for someone to step in to a leadership role in the future. If that is something that interests you, here is my advice: Show up consistently, and become a vocal leader in whatever way feels right to you. Be positive, be encouraging, and be a present member of the community. Everyone brings their own flavour to leadership of November Project – Tom and I, Derek and Megan, and all tribe leaders around the world are all very different in our own unique (read: strange) ways. You won’t become a candidate for leadership by telling them you are interested – you will become one by showing them you can do it through your actions and involvement. Don’t be discouraged if they don’t ultimately pick you. There is a lot of roles to fill that aren’t “co-leader” within the tribe and they can always use the help in different ways.
What will I do with all my time? Well for one, I still plan on showing up and being a part of this tribe. Definitely not every week, and I am going to take a bit of a break to see what it feels like to sleep in on a Wednesday, but i’ll be back. I won’t be verballing for a -31 badge any time soon (i’ve put in my time), but i’ll still be around. I look forward to actually doing the workout alongside each of you, as its definitely been a while (who am I kidding, no i’m not – i’ll probably still just stand around and pretend to look important. Thats what I do best).
A number of you have messaged me or mentioned in conversation over the last week something along the lines of “what you started here has changed my life”. While that is certainly flattering (Jaime would tell you that I definitely don’t need my ego inflated any more, but thanks!) i’d like my final parting comment to be a challenge to that notion. There is nothing that I did, or Tom did, or Derek or Megan or Brogan or Bojan that helped to improve our lives more than our own choices; we choose to get up at ass o’clock when its dark and cold as fuck, we choose to tickle chins and hug strangers and bounce the strangest bounces, and we choose to be part of a community. Whether that is this community, or any community – those choices that we each make every day are what helps us to be happier, heathier, and more bad-ass-ier (?). Thank you for choosing this community, and thank you for making the choice to get up and move and change your life for the better.
Much love, Winnipeg. Its been a wild ride and I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Rick
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