Covid-19: It's okay not to be okay

I feel compelled to write this as I believe there are a lot of us who are in the same boat here. Corona Virus has taken over the world and brought everything to a standstill. Everyone is impacted on one way or another. We are all trying our hardest to stay positive, and everyone says we need to stay strong, and we will get through this, which is true. And for the most part, this is what we are all trying to do. But I just wanted to jump on here and say it is totally okay to feel shitty. I am giving you permission to have some time to feel sorry for yourself, drink wine, eat pizza and sulk, sometimes this is what is needed.

The reality is, we will be living like this for a while in social isolation, and as with everything else in life, we should do it 80% healthily, but the first 20% - we should give into our emotions.

I am self-employed, I work in gyms, these have now closed down, my income has basically gone to 0. I am allowed to feel shitty about this, it is a hugely stressful time. Not only this, but I really felt like I just got my career off the ground and I was loving every second of it - it was my whole life, and this was taken away from me in a matter of days. On top of this, I have never felt so far from my family. They live in Hong Kong and it breaks my heart that I can’t be with them during these scary times, as its times like these where we value family time the most.

I am sure there are so many people who are in the same boat as me who are really finding this very tough. I can’t imagine how hard this would be for anyone who is at risk, or having to self isolate alone, have a family member or friend who has been affected by the virus.

The reality is, the situation f**ing sucks, let’s not tip toe around it, it’s awful, and our lives will probably never be the same after this.

And with every single fitness instagrammer posting home workouts on their page (me actually being guilty as one of them), don’t get me wrong this is a huge help and does provide a lot of inspo for those who do not have the first clue of what to do at home - and to be honest, there is not much to what you should do, just get your body moving and focus on doing any kind of exercise you personally enjoy for your mental health, nutrition should be your man focus through self isolation, but I will talk about that in another blog post. I went off on a bit of a tangent, but what I am trying to say, is sometimes you can see these things online and think that people are keeping positive, fit and motivated through this tough time, and this may make you feel guilty for not feeling great or having your motivation at 100 the whole time, but what you see online is not reality. I can guarantee you everyone has taken the time to feel sorry for themselves, and that is absolutely okay. So you can too, and should not feel guilty for it.

I spent the whole weekend crying, getting drunk, eating pizza and brownies, and to be honest, I feel so much better for it. I had my time to feel sorry for myself and just look after my mental health, and I am now looking at this new week with fresh eyes. A new perspective, I am not looking at what I have lost, but I am now looking at what I can do to adapt to what I have gained.

The quicker you allow yourself to feel shit, nurture yourself, indulge, let your emotions out, the quicker you will get past this stage and realise that we can’t change it, it has happened, it is incredibly awful and tragic, but we can’t change it. All we can do is adapt, and know that when this is over, and it will be over, we will come out on the other side stronger and better for it.

So stay inside, feel sorry for yourself, then adapt to your new (temporary) life.

These negative emotions were how I was feeling on the weekend when I really let myself process what had happened and be emotional, I have now come through this and am feeling quite positive! So my next post will be all about how I stay positive, productive and healthy during self isolation.

I am thinking of everyone during this tricky time, and my thoughts and prayers are with anyone who is suffering directly or indirectly from this, but we need to stick together, work together, listen to what is being asked of us, and we will beat it!