“Lost” vs. Pressing the Pause Button

Before I dive into the meat-n-potatoes of today’s blog post a few #COVID19sucksdonkeyballs “quarantine” thoughts:

• Caffeine is glorious.
• Disney+ is saving my wife’s and I world right now with a toddler at home all day.
• People complaining about getting fat during this time can just stfuuuuu.
• Wouldn’t it be amazing if the cure for all of this ending up being banning kipping pull-ups for good?
• LOL.
• That would be amazing.
• But for real: Disney+ is SAVING US.

Copyright: photographyfirm / 123RF Stock Photo

“Lost” vs. Pressing the Pause Button

I’ve been seeing the same therapist since 2011.

In that time we’ve worked on everything from finally addressing the fact my biological father left me when I was three to my  proclivity to default to incessant negative self-talk to Michael Bay deciding to make more than one Transformers movie (and how scarring they have been).

She’s helped me through some shit, to put it mildly.

When we first started working together we met upwards of 1x per week for about a year (when shit was really going down). That was eventually “downgraded” to every other week for a while. And now we’re in a nice routine of once per month as a sort of “check-in” on life, business, and other shenanigans.

Truthfully I’ve felt great for awhile now and have questioned whether or not I should even bother continuing to go. However, as tepid as I may be on going at times, I consider my therapy session(s) a stand-alone, non-negotiable appointment akin to getting my car’s oil changed every 5,000 miles, or, I don’t know, working out.

It’s just what needs to be done to keep things running smoothly.¹

As it happens, my most recent session served as a stark reminder of all of this.

Stop it Michael Bay. STOP IT. FML.

I left the States for Europe on February 26th. By that time the reality of Coronavirus had kinda-sorta started to take form here and had most certainly entered the day-to-day psyche of the average European.

• I spent five days in Athens, Greece (workshop and pleasure).
• Two days in Paris, France (pleasure; mostly to eat cheese).
• Five days in London (two more workshops and because I’m obsessed with it).

Each day that passed there I saw more face masks in public, more people carrying hand sanitizer and keeping their distance, and more general unease.

I flew back to the States on March 10th.

Two days later the US had made the decision to implement travel bans while entire countries had started the process of shutting down completely.

A week after that, a Thursday, was my first therapy session since the world had changed (and toilet paper seemingly existed).

And boy-oh-boy did I unload on my therapist. Specifically, I made a razor sharp focus on how much I lost:

• I “lost” clients.
• I “lost” all my workshops scheduled for later in the year.
• I “lost” my new gym (I had to renege plans to expand CORE to a larger location).
• I “lost” all my pants (I mean, shelter at home advisory = who needs pants?).

After 20-30 minutes of this I finally gave pause and my therapist made the time-out sign with her hands.

She said simply:

“You didn’t LOSE anything. Things are just on pause at the moment.”

NOTE: Now, of course, this wasn’t meant to imply there wasn’t substantial suffering and loss going on the world right then (and now). No one, least of all my therapist, was making light of the situation we’re all in.

That said:

Holy fuckin a – what a baller re-frame!

Her words punched me in the kidney.

It was exactly what I needed to hear and something I hope resonates for the bulk of fitness professionals who are reading.

Like many of you I’ve vacillated between determination, fatalism, ennui, and just trying all I can do to clone anything that feels normal.

The health/fitness industry – like many industries – has been decimated in recent weeks.

There’s no sugar coating things.

It’s bad.

Thousands of us have been left to marinate in uncertainty, doubt, the unknown, and the feeling of inevitable loss.

It’s not fun and it’s going to stick around for a while.

But not forever.

As cheesy and as impossible as it sounds…

…the pause button has been pressed.

For me this means:

• Still serving my clients and touching base with them periodically to see if there’s anything I can do to help (not necessarily workout or fitness related). I.e., I haven’t lost my clients, they will return (or I’ll kill them).²
• Making the pivot to more online & virtual training until social distancing measures have been rescinded. Who knows: maybe it’ll turn into a more viable and robust revenue stream when all is said and done?
• Recognizing that I can (and will) reassess expanding my gym at a later point this year.
• Recognizing 2021 will be an EPIC travel year for workshops.
• Finally getting my head out of my ass and watching Ozark on Netflix.

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