This time is not different than any other time.

In today’s post, I want to talk about something besides fitness.  Just like you, I am a multifaceted human being with a varied background.

As you know, I always write about fitness, nutrition, ways to get inspired to change, and ultimately I will find a way to write about health.  But now I’d like to talk about the things happening in our world, because I am not at work in the same way and likely, neither are you.

I must also amend my earlier description of this pandemic as a “forced pause,” and call it what it is…a “hard stop.”

So while we are STOPPED, why not read a book that transforms your reality, plant a garden, build a fire-pit, learn a new spiritual practice, take up a new sport, learn to cook? I have a million suggestions!

Hi, I’m Giulia!  Remember me?

I want to help you unleash the infinite power of your own biochemistry.  I know first hand that wellness comes from creating balance through fitness and nutrition.  When you feel centered you can harness the massive potential required to realize all of your goals.

And I get that people are really struggling now to find balance in…anything.  I have clients who are either working more because their industry is all online and may even be international, so the workday starts at 6 AM and then goes until 5 PM.  I also have clients who have no work, no job to go to because they are retired or because their industry is considered non-essential. Each person is having their own experience; just like always.  I am not pretending to know what it is like for people who were already in abject poverty, homeless, or otherwise disenfranchised.  I am not pretending to know what it is like for anyone at all.  So what can I do?  I can share my experience with the hope that it resonates with someone.

From the beginning of this, my perspective has been “use what you have.”  But also that is my life philosophy for all time.  So, I have the studio.  I have a remote coach (in Spain).  I have a goal of competing at the Crossfit Games.  I have a healthy body.  I have an unrelenting will to win. I have the ability and creativity to cook everything I eat—always.  I never eat in a restaurant.

I have always wanted to be a professional athlete. What could be better than getting paid to workout every day? I mean, I do it for FREE so getting paid to do it would be fantastic. And right now I feel like part of my work is to train like a professional.  What does that mean? It means sleep-eat-train-eat-train-eat-recover-repeat.  Right now I have nine workouts a week and my training volume is around 12 -15 hours of training/week.  I have one day off.

Why is training like a professional my job right now?  Because so many people seem uninspired to use what they have–where they have it–to get work done.

I think that globally this new era we are entering will be the start of this new “industrious” revolution.  As humans, being industrious is our birthright.  “The obstacle is the way.”  The task that hinders your task is your task.

But the thing I am hearing so many people say is “I can’t get motivated.”  I just want to say—you are ALWAYS motivated.  You just are not necessarily motivated to train.  You are motivated to sit on the couch.  Or you are motivated to work more.  Or you are motivated to train more.

I just want to say that this time—is not different than any other time.

This time—is it.  This time is not something to get through. This is the only time we have.  This moment.  This very second.  We ARE in this moment.  Here. Now.

Please stop saying “when this is over,” because when “this is over,” you will be on to the next problem.  Let me tell you something I know for sure: problems are only solved by bringing more energy to them—not less. What happens when you have a crisis? Do you sit down and eat a bag of chips or do you get things done?

I just think “this time” is the time to notice what you are doing and make a shift.  Each moment is another opportunity to practice surrender; acceptance of what is. Let me be clear—surrender is not defined as giving up—it is letting go of the outcome and accepting what is happening as the experience, without trying to change it.

But wait a minute…didn’t I just say you’ve got to bring more energy and then also advise you to surrender? So which is it? It’s BOTH. Because you have to accept what is happening before you can change your experience.  How many times have you wanted something to be different?  “I wish I didn’t have to go to work.” “I wish I didn’t have to go to school.”  “I wish I didn’t have to go to the gym.”

Did wishing it would be different change it?  No.  What did you do? Lie in bed and obsess or worry? Dude, that is not bringing your energy.  That is the opposite of energy—that is an energy suck.

When our energy is low we are starting a mission from a limiting belief.  There is nowhere to go—there is just low or no energy, no clarity.  And then you ask questions like this—”Why me” “How come things never work out for me?” “How come so and so still has a job”.

Disempowering questions and these questions generate FEAR and fear makes people reactive.

If you want to create a positive outcome you have to start from a place of empowered thinking.  You have to have a different BELIEF.

This is not bad, this is not good.  This simply IS.

So what are you going to do with it?  It is the same question to ask yourself every day, regardless of limitations.  Because there are always imposed limitations—the rules of the game, so to speak.

The only place we can be happy is right here, right now.  Not in ten minutes, not when we win the Crossfit Games, not when quarantine is over.  Happiness is not an achievement.  We can’t get it from money or drugs or TikTok fame or approval, or anything outside of ourselves.  We can only find happiness within.  It cannot be pursued.

Happiness is who we already are, when our minds are clear.  When the mind becomes clear, it turns out that what we want is actually what is happening.   We can be happy with whatever life brings.

Do you think you know what Is going to happen next?  Consider how that has worked out for you in the past regarding anything good or bad.  When you predicted the outcomes for spring did they include quarantine? I think probably not.

We all had the best plans before this: prom, graduation, business sales, travel, family reunions, second-semester senior-itis, etc.

Do you think you know what is going to happen after quarantine?

We cannot know what is next, not even in the next second—no matter how great your plan is.

What if instead of thinking that your “plans” are ruined, what if you opened up to what is possible now? What if you were like—”wow ok—I can adapt.” What if you remember that you have overcome 100% of the obstacles in your life so far and this is just a new obstacle or possibly, an opportunity?

Today my client invited me to dig up some ornamental grasses from her garden to plant in mine (she knows my garden because she sold me my house).  I went to Lynn’s today and got grass and books—how would I ever have known this would happen? It really was not part of my plan—it was a joyful detour from my plan! Three of my favorite things: 1. A kind generous soul offering me 2. plants for my garden and 3. Books!

But here’s the thing—I do have goals and plans.  Goals to me are targets to aim for —but not to be stuck on.  My real goal is to start out on what I think I am “supposed” to be doing and discover the journey on the way.

Goals are a GPS of the soul, the heart.  These goals are also my ego, to be sure.  They are unresolved issues—the need to DO something is an unresolved issue coming into consciousness.  But experiencing life is the only way to grow, and I choose growth.

Watch your mind for a day to see how often it thinks it knows what someone else is thinking or what is going to happen next.  You probably do this more often than you imagine.  I know I do and these types of imaginations (projections) can get us into so much trouble, not the least of which is NOT enjoying the detour.

Quarantine is a detour.  Find a way to notice the joy in it and relax into knowing that you actually don’t know anything.  All of the predictions about St. Patrick’s day and Easter and Passover and spring sports and, and, and…were ALL wrong.

We cannot know what tomorrow brings.  As I sit here typing this I realize I hadn’t planned to write this tonight—it just came to me—I wonder where it came from?