Times Have Changed!

I often write these blogs a week or so in advance. When I have an idea for a blog, I’ll start a draft. Sometimes it’s just the title or some bullet points. Regardless, I have ideas and content ready to be flushed out next time I sit down to write. Well … then the world changed.

When I went looking through what I had written and ideas I had stored - none of it seemed appropriate or valid right now. A blog about burnout when we are all wishing we could go back to doing our favorite reformer moves seemed ill timed. A blog about how this decade was going to be my best one also seemed a bit suspect at the moment. So today I am just going to write and share what I am feeling in the midst of this changing world and unsettling time.

I am worried. That worry is more for other small businesses. Yes I have worries for mine and the loss of income is unsettling but I’m a scrappy person. When I get knocked down I get back up fighting. I have to believe I will fight my way through this. I worry for the restaurants that just opened or the studio that just stretched a bit to invest in new equipment. I worry for my friends who own businesses and have had to layoff their employees who are more like family. I worry for students of mine impacted long term by this.

I am also incredibly encouraged and grateful for some of the good I am seeing. I have been posting free workout videos because I want to do what I can to help out … and writing a check is out at the moment! So if a free workout helps you keep your sanity and health - than have one or two or more on me! Today I had a ping on Venmo - a friend and former Pilates student from Nashville posted that she had needed and just finished one of my free videos and then paid me for it. Wow! I did not expect that and it really warmed my heart.

On Sunday I was standing in line at Starbucks in Kroger - thinking I probably should skip this but the money was already on my account (justification at work here!) The gentleman in front of me turned to another gentleman behind me and asked him what he wanted. I jokingly replied that I’d take a hot chocolate. His response - sure what size! I told him “No - I was just kidding” and he said he’d still like to buy my drink. Wow! I was not expecting that … and then as we chatted I learned he was a bartender not working at the moment either. Wow!

I believe at times like these we see the best in most and the worst in a few. I am really choosing to focus on the good that is happening. I am picking up the phone and having real conversations with people I care about. I rarely turn on the news and instead scan the updates on my phone in the morning and once again at night. And I am cleaning, running, doing Pilates, and cooking … a lot more than usual. All good things.

I hope beyond hope we can get back to normal or a new normal that’s a bit nicer, a bit more neighborly and a little less materialistic very soon.