Building for a Bright Future
After another sustained period of lockdown, last week’s weather and the Easter Weekend gave us a timely reminder that spring and a good deal of hope is in the air.
Having the sun on our pale faces and seeing family and friends for the first time in ages felt so very special, a real treat after a long and drawn out winter of living with the virus. A virus that has bought death, destruction and absolute misery to so many people, but a virus that has also taught us to value and appreciate people and the freedoms that we had become so accustomed to taking for granted.
During the first lockdown we were all gripped by fear of the unknown and that was whipped up to unprecedented levels of hysteria by a morally corrupt media. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves and once we realised that Amazon was completely sold out of Kettlebells, table tennis tables and exercise bikes, we did what us Brits do best and turned our attention to alcohol!
Let’s be honest it might have meant we put on a few pounds and felt a bit rubbish a lot of the time, but there was little to be optimistic about and for a time it really did work. We had ‘Zoom’, we had ‘Captain Tom’, we had ‘Clapping for Carers’ and we did it all with a beer or glass of wine in our hand. It gave us something to look forward too and a feeling of normality at a time of great uncertainty.
By lockdown 2 or 3 or whatever the hell it was, the focus had undoubtedly changed. Most of us had had enough of drowning our sorrows and wanted to concentrate on making ourselves feel better, mentally and physically. We were all walking or running everywhere, gardens and houses were being restored to their former glories, we were meditating, we were listening to mind-set podcasts, fitness equipment was available and online courses were being booked up.
……………….And from next week after months of auto pilot, we will once again be faced with the luxury of choice. Shops will be open, DIY haircuts will hopefully be confined to the history books forever and then we have the double whammy of gyms and pubs!
It is our individual responsibility to decide what to do with the renewed gift of freedom, but surely going back to how things were just ensures we really did waste a year that we can never have back.
The other option is to pick the positives from your year at home, learn from the bad bits and combine that with what you really loved about your life pre lockdown life. That new and exciting balance will hopefully ensure a brilliant second half of 2021 and a foundation to build on for the rest of your life.