What a result, football is back on and now the gyms are open again. I have booked my first session for today, at 12pm, and I am looking forward to getting back. Although I have carried on with my exercise, it has been different, in a good way. I am building my body up and have been lifting heavier weights, in my back garden or even the front room, depending on the weather.
I did miss the social aspect of the gym, although I hardly spoke to anyone, I like nodding and grunting “hi” to the familiar faces, strangely enough, it feels comforting. When I go on my own I disappear into another world, music in my ears and my mind off in any direction, no purpose, just in the moment. When I go with my mate, Gary, we chat, do our exercises, work hard and then get on with the rest of the day, which also feels good.
The shops also re-open today and although this is not either positive or negative for me, it does massively affect my wife. As a manager at NEXT she is now back at work full time which is something she has missed. I think it will, however, soon become ‘over rated’ and she will reflect on the benefit of having more flexibility and the ability to spend more time at home. As we all know, work can take over your life and can, sometimes, make you miss life experiences due to the commitment of contracts.
I have a feeling my wife will miss her freedom and will want to change things, soon. I think she is, amongst the many, who now want more from life and she realises how restrictive working long hours, evenings and weekends has been, in her 28 years in retail – she deserves more. Now is the time to make changes.
Of course we still need to earn money, pay the bills, save for the future and enjoy life. There are compromises to make, we are not naive or stupid, you can’t have it all, but, we can have more! A bit of balance, some planning, a bit of luck and off we go. This pandemic has put things into perspective for millions of people, if not, the world. It has changed things forever and advanced the need to do things differently, by decades.
We all know that money does not, necessarily, make you happy, but, it can oil the wheels, give you more choices and reduce certain stresses. If I won the lottery it might ruin my life but, just in case it doesn’t, I still do it.
While I take time to re-build my business I am going to enjoy the time off, relish the time to go to the gym or for a walk down the beach. Work will soon take up more of my time and I’m sure I will spend countless hours travelling between venues again. I will, at some point, think “Why am I doing this?” but, I will work hard and play hard to balance it all out for my next 20-30 years.
A balanced life – That is my aim.
I think Prince Philip did exactly that. He worked hard but had fun, he balanced things and adapted over time. He also made me laugh with his straight talking / gaffs.
RIP Prince Philip, stand down, duty done.