Anyone else being forced to adapt and change during these times?
Days before we closed 2020 and pulled out 2021, our apt manager announced that the pool and gym were closed due to a new wave of COVID. We howled over the lack of logic.
Never mind the chances of COVID surviving in a chlorinated outdoor pool. Never mind the importance of staying fit and healthy during a pandemic. Never mind. We couldn’t complain. It was a top-down order.
I started checking in on social and the news to watch our COVID numbers rise and I hated myself for it. How was all of this illegal activity (that caused our spike) allowed to flourish during a pandemic? We were shutdown yet again.
Then, days later it was announced that all schools were closed until the end of the month. We are out of work yet again.
After I heard about the pool + gym, I knew I had an opportunity to do something different. We believe in our household that we can turn what looks like a disadvantage into an advantage. So, I replaced a cold swim with a cold shower, and as it turns out, cold showers are beneficial. They help you handle stress and improve your metabolism and circulation.
I also decided to dust off the old workout YouTube playlist, and now I’m starting my day with a 10 min workout and cold shower. I’m exercising muscles I wish I hadn’t forgotten.
You’re thinking, 10 mins? But motivation is not a problem. I look forward to trying new videos, and I’m thinking of adding 10 mins throughout the day. I already do yoga, and walking for vitamin D… so quit your judging!
Plus, don’t underestimate the value of starting off small. For years, I’ve had the habit of stretching for maybe a minute? before bed. Then one day it felt like I suddenly could stretch as deeply as an athlete. No, it wasn’t ever a goal, but little by little I reached it. [Heh, heh, get it? Reached it?]
After the Ministry of Education made their announcement, I went through another panic about finances. I went though that defeated burst like I did with the pool, but it was really fear-based because who can see into the future? Who knew prior to 2020 that canceling plans would become the new norm? And who would have thought SCHOOLS would be considered a non-essential service?
So I told myself, yet again, to make the most of this. The dream, you see, is to be a full-time writer. Yes, I like teaching, but it’s not my forever.
Agonizingly, I had turned down an online student because she conflicted with my now non-existent work schedule. But I suppose another way to look at it is, I’m busy on my writer’s retreat…
In happy news:
// Parhelion Literary Magazine published my essay Writing as an Act of Service [It’s about a bad boyfriend, bad time in my life, and how a book helped me through a particular part.]
// My 2nd, 3rd, who’s-keeping-track version of my memoir is finished! [I did nothing with it in 2019 because I wasn’t happy with it, but last year I started to pick at it again, and now I’m happier with it. Another round of edits and polishing is coming up!] Whoever said writing is rewriting wasn’t kidding!
// Lastly, I rediscovered Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. Decades ago, I read her book, her 365-days of contemplation and inspiration as if it were scripture. And after seeing a quote by her, I quickly downloaded another copy. If ever there was a time when I needed a short daily read of comfort and joy, this is it.
Jan 1st starts off with the title ‘A year of transformative delight and discovery’. Who isn’t up for that?
“Each year we are presented four glorious seasons, twelve months of mystery, fifty-two weeks of wonder, and three hundred and sixty-five daily rounds, each one of them crowded with twenty-four measures of time—the gifts of dawn, matins, noon, dusk, twilight, and eventide. Hours and minutes. Moments and heartbeats. There will be surprises that trigger smiles as well as deep sighs, wisdom gleaned and eventually appreciated, landscapes larger than the ones we can see right now, beckoning. More blessings than we can count and carry in our saddlebag.”
What hurdles are you hopping over? Have you created any goals or intentions for this year?
Life, the Universe, and Lani 
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