20/20 Looking Back

I wanted to take this opportunity to recap my experience in 2020.....

I will say it has definitely been an interesting year.

Like most of you I started out in January with great expectations of how the year was going to unfold. Boy did the Universe have another plan for us! 

January broke, cold and snowy. I thought to myself this was going to be the year I embrace winter. I started meeting friends and family at Springer Market Square and at the Memorial Center to go skating. It had been years since I laced up and I was having so much fun. I was planning on doing lots of trail hiking and had considered travelling to Mexico in late March, one of my favorite places. 

Does anyone else remember that March 13th was a Friday?? I do, it was my last day of work for five and a half months!

I remember so clearly receiving the email on Sunday. "As of Monday March 16th the YMCA of Eastern Ontario will be closing for 3 weeks due to Covid-19." I thought holy cow 3 weeks. Well OK, I guess we'll make the most of it. I think that Monday was my last day of skating. It was my last day of anything for months!!

I cannot even believe how much Covid-19 has affected my life.

Some of you already know this, most of you do not. When we shut down in March I was in the process of moving to Ottawa. I had interviewed with Movati Athletics, a high end fitness center in Ottawa. We were setting up my 2nd interview when the world shut down......

I could have potentially been in a new city, paying for an apartment, and without work. What a nightmare that would have been. 

So many people thought it would be a temporary shut-down but advised us to apply for unemployment for peace of mind. So, like most Canadians, I applied for E.I. I considered the time off as 'vacation' and took some much needed rest time. 

When the lock-down continued I realized that I had lots to do. I finally got around to creating this website and writing my blog post, which I love doing! And I had many unfinished projects around the house that needed to be completed. Mostly painting and de-cluttering.

I finally decided on my wall colours and started painting. I completed my kitchen then moved onto the front hallway, then the upstairs hallway and stairwell. Man that was a bitch to paint! I redesigned my daughter's former bedroom into a storage/closet/craft room, kind of an overflow area. And I painted my bedroom last.

After organizing and donating so many items I couldn't believe the transformation. 

I had definitely taken my time with all of this. I 'worked' no more than 3-5 hours a day. I still needed my down time as I knew this time off would probably never happen again, so I enjoyed it. 

Easter came and was very low key. Small family gathering, and only one stray, you know who you are. Then my birthday. Being in lock-down sucks when it's your birthday..... I did an outdoor visit with a few friends who stopped by, it was not the party I thought it would be.

When summer arrived and we were still shut down it became very evident that my future was unknown....

My brain began brewing up some ideas. I thought, if I enjoyed doing a refresh on my house maybe I can do that for others??

In the summer I started researching design and staging. What was it? And, what did I need to do to be able to do it? Many companies came up so it left me with more questions than answers. I emailed my questions to a couple of companies and got back so many answers. But I left it on the back burner......

July came and I began teaching an outdoor class and working with clients. It was a very different experience exercising outdoors. I had only done my training indoors. So it was a nice change.

Throughout our time off, I would have the say the Y did such an amazing job maintaining communication with staff regarding our future. When Phase III opened up it was decided that there were still procedures to be implemented, and it was brought forward in a staff Zoom meeting that we would be re-opening on September 1st.

It was nice to know we had a definitive date. Those of us that were called back to work knew how much time off we still had. And we were going to take in every moment we could.

Now that restaurants were open and our C-19 active cases were so low it was time to enjoy summer! I didn't go out a lot but enjoyed a few patio visits with friends. 

September rolled around and back to work I went. Still with thoughts of home staging lingering in my mind.

In October I decided to take the plunge! I registered for 2 courses, Home Staging and Home Décor & Re-design. The courses began late November and ran into December, thus the delay in this blog post. I am now fully certified and ready to move forward into a new career in home staging and design.

I am so excited for this change in my life path. But heartbroken for what I am leaving behind.

Personal training will not recover, within my lifespan, to be the career I was hoping for. So I was the forced to pivot and make a life change.

Some of you reading this blog post might be panicking at this time. Please don't. I am not totally changing career paths. I love personal training and it will always be part of my life. 

Now that December has arrived, and Christmas is literally around the corner. It's time to reflect on what's to come in 2021.

We need to continue to abide by the regulations that are in place because this virus is still raging. But we can make plans to live our life!

I look back on the things that came clear during my time in isolation at home. People I missed, and those I didn't. I feel like I worked through a lot of "stuff." Self-development is something I try to work on continuously, it's so necessary. I have many things I have let go of and I am creating my future. I am not allowing anyone else to dictate how that will unfold. I know it will be better than ever, and better than I had anticipated.

I hope you will spend the next few weeks creating a plan for 2021. It may look different than you thought, but it can still be wonderful.

Wishing you all a joyous Christmas. Love, laughter and happiness in 2021,

Let's make it sparkle!