LOUISE - TAKING ON A NEW CHALLENGE EVERYDAY

In these incredibly difficult times, it can be hard to think of any positives. Essentially our whole way of life has been turned upside down and things we previously took for granted seem so far out of our reach.

In these incredibly difficult times, it can be hard to think of any positives. Essentially our whole way of life has been turned upside down and things we previously took for granted seem so far out of our reach.

So, when it was confirmed we would all be entering an extended period of lockdown I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to set myself a new goal every day.

There are two things we are fortunate enough to have access to. Firstly, time – we have plenty of that. Secondly, the internet – we can search for anything in record time and magically with the click of a few keys we can have virtually any item delivered the next day.

Like many other people I have been wanting to improve my fitness for what seems like an eternity. There never seems to be the right time to go to the gym and I am not a fan of jogging every evening, so imagine my joy when discovering there are hundreds of fitness videos online offering a huge variety of exercise regimes - literally something for everyone.

My daughter and I discovered a particular download with exercises to tone those problematic upper arms, we decided to challenge ourselves to do the routine every day and push ourselves to do a little longer without giving up – we will get rid of those bingo wings.

I also thought this would be a great opportunity to improve my rather dubious kitchen skills, try out different recipes a couple of times a week instead of relying on the same old convenience food – I think we have all been a little inspired by Masterchef!

We have also been out walking our rather lively Springerdoodle every day, it has been a challenge trying to find different routes to walk without driving too far but so far we have been pretty successful in finding less trodden paths and stopping to enjoy the peace and often lovely weather – I have even managed to persuade my two teenage children to walk with me every day, no small feat I can tell you.

There have also been days when it has been lovely to just stop for a couple of hours. To appreciate my family, our home and be grateful that we are all together. We have all finally finished books we started reading last summer and have even started new ones.

I wanted to finish by paying tribute to my rather amazing Dad, who is 88 years old and lives alone. He has not complained once during this whole experience and by no means expects special treatment – all he asks is that we pop round once or twice a week with the dog and wave to him from the end of the driveway. He even gets on his exercise bike every day and challenges himself to do an extra couple of minutes each time – this is with a pacemaker and various other ailments. My only frustration is his stubborn refusal to embrace technology and join our family Zoom meetings – he won’t even turn on his mobile phone.

So lets hope it is not too much longer before life can start to return to normal but while we are living through lockdown lets try and set ourselves at least one challenge every day – however big or small.