Givers and Takers

“Carmella is not your typical therapist, she’s certainly more of a cheerleader, but on this day, she offered me some words of wisdom that I haven’t been able to forget. Her words seem to explain everything! She simply told me, ‘there are givers, and there are takers, and you can’t change who they are!’ “

Laurie Gilfedder

I work with an amazing group of women and men. We share each other’s lives, joys, and troubles. We are closer than most families and support each other in every way we can.

Now you all know FI Cycle Instructor Carmella; she is a source of fun, excitement, and friendship for our staff and so many of our community. The other day, I spoke with her about an issue that was troubling me; nothing very serious, just something that kept popping into my thoughts that I wanted to fix.

For sure, Carmella is not your typical therapist, she’s certainly more of a cheerleader, but on this day, she offered me some words of wisdom that I haven’t been able to forget. Her words seem to explain everything! She simply told me, “there are givers, and there are takers, and you can’t change who they are!”

Givers

Let me tell you about some of the givers. During the shutdown, a group of FI instructors, along with Cor and Jourdan, rose to the challenge and volunteered their time to teach classes remotely. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they gave the FI community a lifeline during a horrendous time. They stepped up and just gave; how generous is that! And behind the scenes and not as visible as classes are another group of givers who worked remotely for FI to help with the “back office” responsibilities of the gym. These people gave us hope in such difficult times, and we are forever grateful. It was this communal giving that has helped us survive the fallout from Covid-19.

Surrounded by Givers

It’s wonderful to be surrounded by givers; it makes life meaningful, especially in this crazy world we live in. I was brought to tears last week when I witnessed a scene in our nursery. Linda, who is in charge of the nursery, has always been a giver, as many of our FI moms will attest. As the nursery was reopening recently, I witnessed a little FI girl, who could not have been more than 3 or 4, jump into Linda’s arms as she entered the nursery. She hugged her tight around her neck as tears quietly flowed down her face. She hadn’t seen Linda in over a year. One would think that such a young toddler wouldn’t even remember, but givers have an impact. Linda has loved and nurtured our FI kids, and they remember, they know kindness and love when they feel it.

There have been similar scenes of members and staff reuniting, members and other members reuniting, so happy to be together once again. FI friendships are the best!

Givers Make a Difference

So many of you continually reach out to us to let us know how our instructor, trainer, desk, nursery, and cleaning staff individually and collectively have made a difference in your lives. FI is a very unique community, it’s a giving community, both members, owners, and staff alike, and we are all blessed to be a part of it.

Cheers to the givers!