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AUSTIN (KXAN) – Although this is a love story that bloomed in adulthood, the seeds were planted decades ago. “So our story begins when we were 10 years old,” says CJ Finley of the time he and his wife Erin first met. “He would skateboard next to my house and always be around to make noise,” says Erin. “In physical education, for some reason, he threw the soccer ball and hit me.” They grew up together in Pennsylvania from elementary school to high school. Somehow, the two would end up working together on a variety of class projects. “I just remember that you were on my team and really counted on me to do all the work,” Erin Finley turns around with a smile at CJ. Today this teamwork continues. Both of them recently trained for Hyrox, an intense fitness competition that I blogged about before. It’s roughly a week of workouts built into a competition where you lift, pull, and push heavy weights, a long distance of burpees and squats while throwing a ball 100 times. Oh, and you run 1 km between each competition to give your muscles a “break” during the time competition! “I was on my way to finish the race when he had to start,” said Erin. “One of our friends, Jason, who was cheering us on, went up to CJ and said I was second. And CJ started the sprint with the kettlebells. ”Erin and CJ finished second in their age group, which gave them the opportunity to represent Austin at Nationals in Chicago. The hardworking couple are behind a movement and a business called Thrive on Life. They focus on giving back to the community through counseling and mentoring in entrepreneurship, fitness, health, and relationships. We met on a cool evening, the first Friday in June, after a brief rain shower. We talked about her passion for life – so that every heartbeat counts. “I haven’t always had that passion,” said Erin. “Seven years ago – actually tomorrow – is the day when I suddenly lost my father to a heart attack. He was probably the healthiest and most physically fit person in my life and in the life of my family, he would be the last person we would call someone who would leave early. ”Erin says this dark time in her life turned out to be Worked miracles for changing attitudes towards life and bringing CJ back into her life. Erin was living in Texas at the time, so CJ reached out to offer his condolences. “At that point, my life has definitely changed. I want to appreciate the ability to just be here and give everything I have for this life because we never know if we will have a tomorrow, ”said Erin, describing her passion for life. CJ went through the same type of reflection. “If someone like her father could die at any moment, he was in great shape again, it could happen to anyone.” He visited Erin in Texas, they fell in love, got married, and made a new commitment. “We wanted to dedicate our lives to living ways that inspire other people to make every heartbeat count,” said CJ. Staying healthy is important to CJ. He had loved ones died, some from colon cancer by the age of 40, and he too has an autoimmune disease that affects his stomach. “I thought to myself: if I left this world sooner than expected, I wanted to make a difference.” “If you are excited about waking up every day, you will thrive at that point.” Whether it’s fitness, business, a healthy mindset, he wants to help people find their own definition of success – he wants to help a million people. To achieve this goal, he became a consultant for small business owners and solo preneurs helping others. He encourages people to take risks and tackle the tough things in life. If these risks don’t pay off, you have a second chance at finding a solution, but you don’t have a second chance at finding your passion. “The easiest way for me to explain is that if you’re driving to a job, it’s better something that’s worth it, because a car accident can happen anytime.” When you talk to him today, it’s hard to believe that it is CJ There was a lack of self-confidence. He was a shorter guy in high school, less than 100 pounds in his freshman year. If you look at him now, you’ll find it strange to hear that he was afraid to work out in the gym. “My dad, the guy he is, actually built a gym in our basement and I’ve worked out so much that I gained enough confidence to go to the gym. I realized it was actually a safe place. “” Rising tides raise all ships. ” The community he found at the gym is why CJ and Erin are passionate about getting their own message across in Austin: When you work together, you come up together. It may have taken decades, but this love story was worth the wait. “Anything in life that’s worth it will never be easy,” said CJ. Jo se Torre s is a morning news producer at KXAN. His blog will bring stories of hope and determination from others who have struggled their own health struggles and life challenges. He looks forward to sharing these conversations on future blogs.
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