COVID-19 and how to survive...(not physically, mentally!)

“A life full of enthusiasm, hope and contributions through one's own talent is a life well lived.”
Kimberly Day

Yes! This! As we are all cooped up and having to rely on technology to communicate, socialize, and stay informed, take some time to hone in on your talents. Are you using them to your full potential? Are you using them to lift up people? Do you know your talents? That’s sometimes the most difficult question.
I think we all walk around in this life knowing what we enjoy and what we want to be good at. But it’s not always what our talents are. There are many people (I hope) like me who had no idea what we were good at until later in life. I thought I was good at reading and comprehending. I thought I was good at psychology and understanding people. There was a time I thought I could be good at chemistry (definitely not in my brain capacity!)
I never knew I was good at working out, understanding how the human body works, and motivating people. But there came a point in my life when I switched over careers from counseling to fitness professional out of necessity and suddenly I was being told things like, “great workout tonight!”, “thanks for making us laugh so we didn’t realize how hard we were working!”, and “thanks to you I’ve lost 10# and look forward to working out!”.
What?! Thanks to me? But all I did was write a workout, explain how to do things, tell you that yes, you can lift those weights or stay with me b/c we can run this pace, and give high fives after it’s done! But, ok. You’re welcome! :)

There’s a saying that if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life. Well that’s not really true. I love fitness and working out. But it is still work to write workouts for classes and people and personalize things for my clients. And it’s not always my favorite part of the job. But I do love it. I love seeing people come back for more. I love having people ask for more cardio bc the 10 minute blocks I’ve been doing in class have become too easy. I love when someone says, “do you see definition in my arms? B/c I think I see a muscle coming in...” and YES, I see that bicep also! That’s the power of dedication to your body and you!

So, over the years, I have found my talents. My talent is motivating people. My talent is understanding how the human body works and using that knowledge to help my clients. I am good at what I do and I hope to keep using it to help others. With the shut down of the world, I love that I can use YouTube to create videos, email workouts to people, and be there if someone is struggling. Even if I’m just there as a voice on the other end of the phone, I will be there. I am considering making a challenge for my personal training clients. It will be virtual and on the honor system but I think it will help some stay motivated so everyone doesn’t slip back in their training. This is how I hope to use my talents at this time. When we are all isolated, I want to connect people. I want to motivate people. I want to help people stay healthy and strong.

How do you plan to use your talents?

What I missed by not being on facebook...

We are living in a world dominated by social media and electronics. And it drives me crazy! I, like many people, am guilty of checking social media much the same way we used to check our mailboxes or answering machines (millennials and younger, an answering machines was something that was attached to your land line telephone and would record a message from someone when you weren't home to answer the phone, ha!). But for some people, checking social media is much more serious than our old mailboxes. We've lost the ability to have delayed gratification. That immediate gratification when you post something and 5 people "like" it right away is so satisfying. Can you imagine waiting over a week for a letter from a loved one overseas? I remember those days.They weren't that long ago. Sometimes I miss those days. I love a comment from a friend from Ireland on a social media post, but I love a piece of paper with a note written on it that flew across the ocean just for me. Being able to hold a physical piece of paper that someone you love also held adds to the connection between the two of you. Now that I'm writing about this, I realize how much I miss things like that...

But the whole reason I decided to write about social media and electronics is b/c I have been off facbeook for nearly a week. And the weird thing is, I only miss one thing! I miss my fitness community. I was going to check it tonight but started to log on, saw I had 71 notifications, and decided I didn't want to take time to go through all of those right now! I'll do it tomorrow and that will bring me to one full week without facebook. The only other time I've gone this long was when I was on vacation. And trust me, this week has NOT been a vacation! The reason I have been off is b/c I've been so busy with work and family stuff that I haven't had time. I will have time tomorrow.

There's a part of me that is itching to know what's been going on w/ Lebert Fitness (I need to see the February leg workout that puts all the month's exercises together!). I'll be posting a video to share these exercises and put my own spin on them so watch my YouTube channel for that! I'll be so curious to see how many Atomic Betty posts I've missed. How many more runs from my friends have I missed? Are there any discount codes for races I plan to do that have been posted? How far did Jane Anne swim in the ocean this week? She did say she was going to start back in the ocean in Feb, ha! Finally, did the results of the indoor tri I did w/ my daughter get posted to facebook? I haven't seen them on the website and I'm dying to know how we did!

Yes, out of the 71+ notifications I have, I only miss a handful. This makes me feel better about my social media and electronics usage. I don't feel attached, just curious what's happening in the fitness world. If I could get this info somewhere else I probably would. I could then look at facebook as my mailbox and have more patience waiting for those "letters" from far away. Think about what you use facebook for the most. What would you miss? Would you be able to resist checking multiple times a day? I would like to encourage everyone to take a week off. Or limit your checking to two or three times a week. Build up that delayed gratification again and revel in the simple pleasures of getting "mail" from someone who you don't see every day. Let me know how it goes!

Good luck!