The choice is yours. It really is. I started back to college to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in Marketing in May. As I was watching one of the required videos there was a quote that caught my attention.
It seemed very relevant to the life that we are now living. It was almost eerie in a sense. This quote spoke volumes to me. In the last several months there has been so much negativity in the media and social media it can become really hard to not just fall into believing what we are being fed. Once we start believing what we hear or read and not try to look beyond it we start to react or even worse we don’t react which can be just as bad or worse.
Knowing when to React
Initially, when the pandemic hit, I spent my days watching the news. Looking for any glimmer of hope that this would be ending soon. You see the industry in which I work was one of the first to take a hit by the pandemic. No gatherings meant no concerts. It did not take us or our colleagues long to see that this was not going to end in 2 weeks or even two months for that matter. Once the reality set in we knew we had to go into survival mode. We knew if we just sat back and waited failure would be imminent. This is only one of the circumstances that the pandemic has presented. As for our company, our entire 2020 season has been canceled. There was a short attempt to get back to it, but that fell to the continued rising of the cases. As to the reaction, we applied for any and all assistance offered, while some were successful, not all were. The ability to return to school was one of the opportunities I was fortunate enough to be able to find success in. Since we were not going to be working for a while, this could be a beneficial distraction. Furthermore, if the stage remains dark for more than a year, a college degree may be beneficial.
Dont let the Negativity Define you
Sadly, this pandemic has taken so much from so many people. While we have lost family members, friends, and possibly even careers how we react from here will truly define how we will get past this in the future. We can choose to let all of the negativity define who we are or we can find whatever it takes to pull ourselves out of the tidal wave that it is dragging us into.
The Challenges of 2020 Come in Many Forms
I have heard many people refer to the difficult side effect of Covid-19. People that have not even contracted the illness are suffering from this side effect. That would be the weight gain. This side effect is because of how many have chosen to handle the new situations they are in because of how life has changed from the pandemic. It’s difficult to not let ourselves fall into the trap of emotional eating during difficult times. As mentioned before, when my mother passed away I felt it was my “right” to eat whatever I wanted. Afterall I was grieving a loss of a lifetime. Then add that the last thing I wanted to do was workout. Had I continued this destructive path; I would have lost multiple years’ worth of efforts. Fortunately, I recognized the path I was headed down was not healthy nor was it helping me in any way. This enabled me to prevent myself from falling into the same trap 22 months later. When we lost my father I made the statement to my husband that I was not going to use this tragedy as an excuse to let my own health go.
Lessons Learned
Losing my parents prepared me for dealing with the challenges that we are seeing as a result of this pandemic. I learned that we cannot give up working for what we want or need. The course we take may have to change from what we envisioned it to be, or from what we were used to. We did not get to choose to go through these challenges, but we do get to choose how we handle them.
Don’t Give Up What You Can Still Control
If we accept that it is ok to eat poorly because we are grieving our losses, or we accept that we cannot work out because the gyms are closed, then we are giving up one of the things we can still have control over.
Don’t Let Excuses Hold you Back
I have chosen to continue to work towards my fitness goals. I have put more effort into my fitness and decided that working out is not only healthy for my body, but it is necessary for my mind. The tools for a successful fitness journey are in our reach should we choose to accept them. I found this workout program one year after my father passed away. There are so many options that this has been referred to as the Netflix of fitness. I have found this to work so well for me because I was able to get started for less than the cost of a gym membership. I don’t have to leave my home, which saves me at a minimum an hour a day, therefore I am able to be consistent in my routine. Add to that I don’t have to worry about unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus or other germs. Add all of those things together and that means I am running out of excuses. Now that I have created the habit and seen the benefits, the excuses are becoming fewer and farther between.
Choose to be Healthier
This has been one of the most beneficial changes I have made in my life. Making the choice to be healthy despite not being in control of so many other things. If you are ready to make the choice to be healthy and would like a mentor to help you find what program would best suit your needs and goals, I would love to help. The hardest part is making the commitment to start then following through. Once you get into the routine and see the benefits, it becomes easier to keep pushing yourself to stronger and healthier you.
Join a Challenge Group
I have found that working together with others that have similar goals has increased my accountability. I join a new challenge group monthly, the others hold me accountable and push me to keep working towards my goals. Our next challenge starts on August 10th, we will be doing a brand new program that was just released. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s work together to find a program that will help you reach your goals.
19 Comments
MAnju.
July 24, 2020 at 8:53 amBeautiful post. Instills a lot of confidence to take on the otherwise upsetting year.
admin
July 30, 2020 at 8:27 amThank you. You are so correct this has been a very upsetting year. That is why I found this quote so inspiring. So many things are out of our control that we really need to focus on what we still can control.
hari
July 26, 2020 at 7:50 amgosh, this is a truly eye opening and a helpful post to remain positive and tackle this year head on.
thank you so much for sharing!
admin
July 30, 2020 at 8:22 amThank you, I’m glad you found it helpful. While staying positive every day through the challenges may not be easy, we must just take it day by day. Some are definitely better than others. However positivity will lead us to a better outcome in the end.
Natalie
July 28, 2020 at 7:18 amYou are so on point. This post gave me motivation to still try to reach my goals, despite the fact that getting this is different.
admin
July 30, 2020 at 8:18 amI’m glad to have given you motivation. If you are looking for continued support and motivation to reach your goals, feel free to reach out on facebook. I have found that surrounding by groups of people with similar goals really helps.
Ashley
July 28, 2020 at 11:05 amMy sincere condolences on the loss of your parents. I can be an emotional eater, it truly depends on the situation. But I think you’re spot on that it’s best to choose a healthier lifestyle and to not let yourself fall into the trap of emotionally eating. Sadly, there always seems to be something difficult we are facing – especially with this pandemic. So we have to find new ways to handle the stresses in our lives.
Make Life Marvelous
admin
July 30, 2020 at 8:16 amThank you. It is true, the pandemic in particular is causing many difficulties for everyone. It truly can be overwhelming but we must learn to work through the challenges.
Manju.
July 30, 2020 at 8:43 amAgreed. we need to know when to react. Most of the times we waste our energy reacting to unnecessary things
Bianca
October 8, 2020 at 9:00 amMy condolences on the loss of your parents. This has certainly been a challenging year for many of us, but like you said – We did not get to choose to go through these challenges, but we do get to choose how we handle them. – I love this!!!
Stephanie
October 8, 2020 at 9:38 amI really appreciate your practical, yet no nonsense advice. I will definitely try to implement a few of these tips starting today.
Arianna
November 12, 2021 at 7:23 amI completely agree with you! Sometimes tragedies are the turning points in our choices. I lost my grandfather last year. After that, I choose to quit my job and pursue what really made me happy. I miss him, which encourages me to lead a better life in his honour. Even in this pandemic, we still have choices. Thanks for sharing this message!
Cathy
November 12, 2021 at 7:47 amGreat post! I’m sorry to hear about your loss. I actually found quite a few positive things that came of “being stuck at home”. I know many others have suffered and still do! Your Challenge groups sound interesting! I’m going to come back to read more posts!
Kayla
November 12, 2021 at 7:50 amYour post speaks volumes. It’s sad to see how things have changed over the last couple years. I agree and even say something similar to those around me. The fact that things may stink, they may be bad right now, but you have to keep moving forward. It may be scary and uncertain but taking that step is the first bit.
Matt Jacobsen
November 12, 2021 at 8:04 amAwsome article, very inspiring, so sorry for the loss of your parents.
Kisha
November 12, 2021 at 3:10 pmThank you for the reminder to always look at the positive in every situation. With the year we all have had sometimes it’s easy to forget the beautiful things that surrounds us.
Emily Rivera
November 12, 2021 at 4:15 pmI totally agree that the attitude we choose affects how we react to different situations. It even has an effect on how we approach people and what we permit to be shared (or not). Gratitude helps me choose how to react and to keep a positive attitude towards life’s events whether good or bad.
Michelle
November 12, 2021 at 4:51 pmGreat Post! Simple and practical advice. Something we all need to revisit often so we don’t get into a slump. Don’t let a situation, especially a bad one, define you.
Marisa
November 13, 2021 at 7:42 pmNice post…the thing that resonated with me most is “Don’t give up what you can still control” I heard Mel Robbins say once that there is no such thing as motivation…sometimes you gotta just kick yourself and do the thing you least want to do. It struck me in a real way, and I sometimes say outloud “OK…you gotta do this, or NOT to that, you just gotta! You don’t wanna, I know you don’t wanna…but you just gotta DO IT. Now get up! and go do it!”