2020
2020
As we come into the final month of the year it seemed like the perfect time to begin reflecting. Looking back is sometimes the only way we can see just how far we’ve come. I remember seeing in 2020 with real optimism. It was the first New Year I’d spent with my girlfriend. We’d had a first year jampacked with holidays and professional growth; she’d got a promotion to a job she always wanted, and my personal training business had never been busier, I was also in the process of finishing up my plans for an online counselling and well-being service. As we saw in the year coronavirus was sweeping through China, but we in Europe and specifically the UK were none the wiser to what was coming our way.
Fast forward a couple of months and the biggest post-war pandemic swept through Europe and the UK. My personal training business slowed down, ultimately stopping for a few months during the lockdown. My girlfriends dream job, a nurse in intensive care, became so manically busy it resulted in her self-isolating in a camper van to protect her family.
There was genuine concern that loved ones may die. Every plan we had for the year was gone. We didn’t see each other for over 8 weeks. It was something I could have never imagined.
Initially I made an agreement with myself to make sure I used my time to finish jobs that needed to be done and to be as proactive as possible. Some days were great, others were not. Having some structure was helpful and important to me but I also realised when I needed to rest, or just when I couldn’t be bothered to do anything.
By the time we came out of lockdown I’d finished several big jobs, biggest of which was putting the finishing touches on, and launching, my online counselling service.
Fast forward a few months and I’ve launched my online counselling service and am still personal training alongside it. My girlfriends dream job is a little more how she hoped it would be, but still exceptionally busy.
Coronavirus has changed everything temporarily and some things permanently. It has taken lives and businesses and has forced innovation. Personally, I’ve tried to make the most of the time this has given me. It’s also made me appreciate my loved ones and health even more than normal. I’m hopeful that in a few years’ time we’ll look back on this period and realise we’ve lived through a truly unique time. I’m also hopeful that we will appreciate the things we temporarily lost even more than before, a dinner, the cinema, theatre, concerts, drinks, travel and time with loved ones. As they say ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’.