Dooley Noted: 4/19/2014
In April 2012, my dear friend Matthew Tolstoy asked me to swing a kettlebell with him.
I gave him the same look most people give me, when I ask them to swing it.
It’s so menacing, that cannonball with a handle.
So dangerous, right?
Any fine tool is dangerous in the hands of the unskilled.
But Tolstoy was skilled. And I trusted him.
He trusted me to listen and learn.
It took only one well-instructed swing to know I was home.
I found what helped me control my air. I found a fitness tool that didn’t tear me down but built me up. So, it goes with me when I fly.
As I boarded my flight to Grenada at JFK, the airline attendant gave me a fair share of flack.
Attendant: “You’re checking THAT as luggage?”
Dooley: “Yes, ma’am. It was your airline that suggested it to me after it busted through 2 of my suitcases.”
Attendant: “You’ve done this before?”
Dooley: “Yes ma’am, 16 times.”
I was non-chalant, checking the 16 kilo that weighed 17 pounds less than my suitcase.
She first pushed the 53 pound suitcase. Then, she rolled her eyes as she dramatically moved my kettlebell.
The irony fascinated me. Did she not realize, in that moment, the bell helps me lift my suitcase?
Every deadlift prepares me for every luggage pick-up.
Every clean prepares me to pull something from the floor and onto my support arm.
Every snatch prepares me for snatching items to overhead compartments.
How is it strange for such a tool to prepare me to protect myself while flying her airline?
We can’t fear the weight we pick up all day. We need to train for it.
I won’t ignore that every child that sees my kettlebell gravitates towards it.
They try to understand it.
They want to pick it up.
Kids aren’t afraid of being strong.
It’s still inside of you. You are that kid, give a few years.
I don’t believe that airline attendant felt my bell was all that strange, when she handles heavy luggage all day.
But somewhere along the way, she lost the urge to challenge herself to be strong.
Anyone that maintains that childhood urge would have seen that bell as an opportunity.
It’s not a cannonball with a handle to me.
It’s the tool of a strong, powerful body regardless of size.
It’s a tool that shows me power of body transcending into power of mind.
It’s a lifestyle.
We can judge the things around us that make us feel strong. Or, we can embrace our strength and see just what our bodies can accomplish.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley