All my life, I’ve felt an uneasiness inside of me. Always over reacting to every emotion. On most occasions, the over reaction was euphoric. Producing a high I couldn’t explain. I diagnosed myself as manic expressive because I had no other way to explain the uneasiness or euphoria that boiled over on the inside.
I’ve felt this uneasy euphoria on several memorable occasions: every first day of school, the night I crossed the burning sands into Kappa Alpha Psi, the day I jumped a plane from Charlotte to New York City, intent on landing a job on Broadway, and the first day I started practicing law.
I had a very memorable but short lived life on Broadway (a story for another day). While there, I heard a song sang by Glenn Close. “As If We Never Said Goodbye” 
from Sunset Boulevard has a recurring theme of something Norma Desmond describes as early morning madness. Simply enough, this term perfectly embodies what I had been feeling all these years: unbridled giddiness, uneasy excitement, uncontainable expectations of euphoria.
I never intended to practice law after law school, so the uneasiness was overbearing when I first stepped into the courtroom a full three years after graduating. But this time, the uneasiness wasn’t euphoric. Being in court didn’t produce a high, only a brooding low brought on by the insolence of the legal profession. After four years of practicing, I finally realized that it wasn’t early morning madness I was feeling, but unnecessary stress.
By January of 2019, I’d had it. While sitting in my car after work, I asked myself “what do I really want to do?” Immediately, “coach elite level boys gymnastics” came to mind. To put this new thought into context, I did gymnastics as a boy. But that’s a story for another day as well. I still have the moves, though. See below:
And as if guided by fate, I took a left turn out of my office parking lot instead of the usual right, and discovered there was a gymnastics club 100 feet away from my office. Just there. I started coaching. The very first day I saw those bright eyed, hopeful boys rush into the gym, ready to chalk up and defy gravity, I could feel the early morning madness, and I could feel the magic in the making. 
I hung back at first but then I told myself “I don’t know why I’m frightened, I know my way around here.” With that, Coach James was born. Everything was as if gymnastics and I never said goodbye.
But what started out as aimless became all consuming. The mania had returned and the high was welcomed. All I thought about was gymnastics. I always wanted to return to gymnastics somehow. I’ve spent so many mornings, just trying to resist it. I’m trembling now, you can’t know how I’ve missed it. There was a world to rediscover, though unlike Norma from Sunset Boulevard, I am in a huge hurry- a hurry to be rid of this life as a lawyer.
I flipped feet first into the program I was working with. I became discouraged when I found that the program was limited to recreation and didn’t allow for development or competitions. For years, I had thoughts in the back of my mind of starting my own competitive gymnastics club. Now, the early morning madness was propelling me to turn those thoughts into action.
The opportunity came before the preparation. A parent came to me and asked if I’d help get their son on the competitive track. So, I offered gymnastics classes under a pavilion of a public park. The heat was unbearable and almost caused me to put a stop to the early morning madness that I had come to look forward to. I couldn’t let the goal end so prematurely.
So, with 4 mats, a low bar, one gymnast and a 25′ X 12′ lobby space in the same building as my law office, the James Jones Gymnastics Academy was born. But the new life came too fast, as other parents wanted to sign their kids up for my classes, but space was limited. Now, I find myself having whispered conversations in over crowded hallways on how to take this from the lobby to a gym space. I’ve had several suggestions such as becoming a non-profit, partnering with existing programs, and incubating inside of another gym until my club is self sustaining. I’m following up on all leads.
For now, I have been offered a space inside of a cheerleading and dance gym. The gym has a spring floor, but no actual gymnastics equipment. So, I am quickly working to gather equipment before we move in. And there’s no time to waste. I’ve already discovered a 7 year old phenom, who I believe is the greatest gymnast of all time in the making.
I’m putting lots of work into this. And this time will be bigger, And brighter than we knew it. So watch me fly, we all know I can do it. Of course there are professional nerves that come with this decision. But I have to push past them if I want a life I’ve always thought about. Could I stop my hand from shaking? Has there ever been a moment with so much to live for?
What motivates me most is that the boys I am coaching are so talented. They just don’t have a competitive gymnastics program in their area to hone their skills. In order to get to a competitive gym, their parents would have to drive almost 20 miles in either direction. I want to change that and start a competitive boys gymnastics club in South Metro Atlanta. I’ve made up my mind that I don’t want to practice law. That’s all in the past. The gymnastics world has waited long enough. I’ve come home at last.
Donations for Equipment for Boys Gymnastics Club
So far this year, I’ve spent about $3,000.00 on equipment, USA Gymnastics Membership, Gymnastics trainings, etc. I could really use help getting a few items to improve the quality of the lessons. Mainly, a larger landing mat, a larger air floor, a mushroom, parellettes, and a kip bar. If you’d like to donate to help me build a boys gymnastics program, I’d really appreciate it. Or if you feel more comfortable purchasing an item off of the below amazon wish list, that would be greatly appreciated as well. I will remove items once they’ve been donated or purchased.
$20.00
CLICK BELOW TO SEE AMAZON WISH LIST
James Jones, Esq. 