At the start of 2020, I wrote an article about how my life turned around in a year, about how an injury helped me to changed the way I think, the way I work, and changed my way of living for the better.
At that time, I could not have imagined how the world would change in the following 12 months. How a global pandemic would change everything. Would change the way I work, the way I think and the way I live once again.
Suddenly I was confined at home (no daily walks for us in Andorra unless you had a dog – we honestly thought about getting one despite our allergies!). My children were being schooled at home. My husband and I were no longer travelling for work. Contact with family and friends, even those around the corner, was suddenly limited to a tiny screen.
Once again, I needed to regroup and review everything. In the previous year. I had done the work to reframe the challenges in my life and turn them into opportunities. This time around, I was quicker to do the same as I knew it could be done. I had the evidence to show me that all was not lost.
And this time around, despite the gravity of the situation, in some ways it seemed a lot easier. Looking around me, I could see how lucky I was that my family were safe and well, that my business could move into the online space with relative ease, that I was reliant on a business that could continue to operate for my income, that I had outdoor space that I could be in on sunny days when many of my friends did not.
And yet the scale of the challenge, not just for me but for the rest of the world was often overwhelming. Sometimes tiring, sometimes downright exhausting.
So what did I do? I regrouped and reviewed everything. I looked back at the work I had done last year. Reflection on what really makes me tick. On what I love doing. On what really energises me and how I bring that into my daily life. And most importantly, I focussed on what I can control.
I love coaching and how I can support my clients to be at their very best, so I used the additional time that I had to upskill my coaching practice and gain an ICF qualification – and gain a wonderful new group of friends at the same time.
Once we were able to get outside again. I sought out the mountains. I walked I hiked. I reached peaks I hadn’t considered trying before and realised, just how important it is for me to spend time outdoors in nature.
Not being able to travel anymore for work. meant that I could have greater commitments in my professional life here in Andorra, which includes singing in a group and now I have a small commitment teaching in a singing Academy, which brings me so much joy until we are able to perform again.
And most importantly this year, I have really ingrained a daily gratitude practice. I’m counting my blessings. Every day, I spend time focusing on what’s important. What is good. What I am thankful for. And even on the darkest of days there are things that I can find to be grateful for, things that bring a little joy, things that remind me that life is good.
Family, friends, health, laughter, sunshine, blue skies, good coffee, cosy blankets.
There is so much to be thankful for. Even in the smallest of things.