The e/o: Logan Aldridge (Crossfit Athlete)

Logan Aldridge, 27 years old. Raleigh, North Carolina. This is my story. What I love about CrossFit is community. Regardless of differentiation and adaptation, we both struggle together and push through to the end. That power of positivity resonated deeply with a message that I'd continue to share about exceeding expectations and my message of perception with it's just an arm. I found that to be so true in every one of these communities of CrossFit gyms. So once I realized that, I instantly became addicted. Growing up, active kid, kind of a punk, surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, anything on a board, I loved it. We were finishing up this typical day of wakeboarding and I had a couple loops and I looked and noticed that the rope had drifted underneath the back platform of the boat. The rope got caught in the propeller. I immediately just felt a little tug and was standing there and saw the rope going inside my arm and coming out the other side. And I remember riding in the ambulance saying, mom, what if I lose my arm? She immediately looked at me and said, Logan, It's just an arm, and the it's just an arm motto became a way for me to remind myself that perception is the first step to realizing that it's an opportunity and you have the power of choice to determine how it goes. When I was interested in CrossFit, I went to a bunch of gyms. The reason being why I stuck around there is when I came in, the first thing he said to me was, oh, cool shoes, bro. He just said, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? What are you in here to do? I think I became so passionate about the sport and so heavily involved with the community because my coach instilled the fact that I'm just another athlete. I'm not some guy missing an arm. I created Beyond Expectations and the Logan Aldridge Foundation to try to show a kid out there who just suffered an accident or injury or illness that they can pursue whatever it is they're passionate about. And if I can do that with one person, to me I've fulfilled my purpose and my mission in all this. When he is talking to other members, he's... Trying to make everybody better and that kind of just, you can feel that in a room and I just think that's a pretty beautiful thing. If you go back would you change it? Would you do something differently? My answer always without skipping a beat is absolutely not, no way. I love who it has shaped me into becoming today. If this accident hadn't happened, never would I have had the opportunity to meet the people I've gotten to meet, to impact some lives the way I have, and have my life impacted in ways that I could have never imagined. I will forever be grateful for that accident. It's okay to be comfortable in your skin. It's okay to be different and do things different, no matter what that is. We all have the ability to overcome the challenges. It's all about the perception and mindset we have.