I didn't think I'd be writing another of these... less than a month after the last one!
But here we go again. Lockdown strikes once more. We back baby.
Lockdown 2.0 - Too Locked Too Down
or is it
Lockdown 3.0 - Locked Down Again - This Time It's Personal
Anyway. The sequels are never as good as the original
Except for maybe
Aliens
Terminator 2
The Dark Knight
Lord Of The Rings
All of the Toy Story's
Spiderman (Tobey maguire can jump in the sea)
Lethal Weapon 2 (I am getting too old for this shit)
But in the case of lockdowns I'm pretty certain the sequel won't be as good as the original.
Back in 2020 (oh god how i miss the glory days of 2020 when it was all ahead of us) we had beautiful long spring evenings, banana bread baking gently in the oven, the fresh scent wafting into the living room where we zoomed gleefully with our friends and enjoyed online quizzing with the vigour of a lonely housewife who's got a plumber round to fix the sink and he's decided to do it topless whilst drinking diet coke.
But now its 2021 and the harsh reality has set in.
Cold winter nights (except those of you reading this in Oz).
Gym's closed (except those of your working out in gyms in Nz).
Fully clothed plumbers....
It's all a bit terrible.
BUT
(a la jennifer anniston in those shitty hair commercials)
"HERE COMES THE SCIENCE BIT"
(Replace science with inspirational in this instance)
(And replace Jennifer Anniston with me in this instance)
(And stop complaining that you're not getting Jennifer this email is free)
Anyway I digress - here's the inspirational bit
The way i see it we've got two choices -
Wallow in despair and say woe is me
Or
Throw down the gauntlet, rise to the challenge, climb out of the light and get after it once again
And you know what -
Both are perfectly acceptable as choices. If you're reading this in your pyjamas at midday eating chocolate for breakfast because you're a little overwhelmed and deflated by the whole situation and you just want to take option 1 for a while - that's all good.
There's only one rule/caveat
You're only allowed pick option 1 for a little bit
oh and you have to remember to shower
So there's 2 rules/caveats
You're only allowed pick option 1 for a little bit (and you must shower at least once every 4 days)
But ya - you're allowed be a little overwhelmed and you're allowed be a little deflated - but you're not allowed stay there too long. At some stage you're going to have to give yourself a gentle and supportive kick up the hole and get back on the proverbial horse
Because that's what living is (starts dreaming of Al Pacino speech and doing Al Pacino voice).
You have to keep pushing forward inch by inch.
Small goals - small challenges
Daily goals. Weekly goals. Don't hit them? Try again tomorrow. Try again next week.
If you need help - ask for it
Do whatever you need to keep moving forward and to keep progressing.
Here's the link to the Al Pacino speech that gets me fired up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7bgtu2O4E
Might get ya fired up. Might not. Everyone is different.
Find you an Al Pacino and listen to it then write down your goals.
I'm going to end on this
To the nurses, doctors, shop workers, delivery drivers, teachers and all the rest of the frontline workers. It sometimes may not feel like it. And we may not express it enough.
But the public f*ckin love you and we appreciate you.
To the rest of us remember to try shower at least once a week
With Lockdown Love
Stephen
P.S. f*ck clapping - make it a pay rise!!!