Friday with Heidi: Where it all began…
Yep.
I’m late.
Very late in fact.
Everything that I prepared yesterday didn’t save. Ah well, I already knew it was going to be a little late, but to have to re-write it wasn’t part of the planning.
And whilst I wasn’t going to write about this today, I do feel that events like this show me how I’ve changed during the Covid-19 times. In my former (pre CV-19) life I’d have been frustrated to have lost the content. I’d have fretted about it and how I’d let myself down not getting it out on time.
Today, not so much.
Yes, it’s frustrating.
Yes, I’d much rather have had this sent out first thing like I normally do.
But you know what? Friday has continued just as normal without the arrival of this in your inbox this morning.
Covid-19 has definitely made me more tolerant of myself this year. Accepting what is, is very much my new way.
So what was I going to talk to you about today?!
Earlier in the week I was knee-deep in boxes from the loft in an attempt to pare things down and throw some things out.
In many cases it was a simple case of ‘yep, want that‘ or ‘what the hell have I still got this for?‘ — but every now and then a rogue box would appear and I’d have a quick look to see what was in there.
I came across a box with old school books in. This paring down had already been done previously as there weren’t a huge number there, but there were an unexpected number of scrapbooks which had been used as topic books for all manner of school and home projects.
Amongst them were two from Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions in the mid 80s.
Given the red pen marks through it, it was part of our award to complete a diary/summary of the trips. I had no recollection of doing the books so it was a fascinating insight into the world of teenage me!
After not reading too far into them I realised that the FWH writer was born already then. I found some joy in detailing what we did in a way for others to appreciate too.
I was impressed by my presentation. I think I thought if it looked good it didn’t have to be too brilliant!
I laughed at my menu plans for a teenage walking expedition. Mushrooms, lots of mushrooms!
I cringed at the group summary! There are probably 6 more versions of this with the descriptions of me being a mushroom force-feeder or something!
I also realised that I’ve always been keen to learn. The comments on the weather project are exactly what I’d think now, ‘what don’t I know about that I can learn from by doing this?‘.
And just yesterday, in a networking meeting, I had to say what my Key to Success is.
In the past it’s been very much about taking personal responsibility for all I do. And whilst I still believe that, right now, in this pandemic, I simply wrote ‘to find the good in everything‘.
Which really is what I did when I was 14, on Exmoor, weighed down by rucksacks and getting lost on the moors.
If you could glance back at your teenage self, what would you see? What would you have wanted to hear then which would have given you more comfort or confidence in these hormonal years of our development?
If I could give that 14 year old me some advice, I’d have told her to worry less and speak out more. Oh and maybe give the mushrooms a miss for a bit!
Wishing you a very fine weekend. Wherever and however you spend it.
If you want to do something active do come and join me on Sunday at 9am on Zoom or at Bearwood Recreation Ground, Winnersh where I’ll be running our simultaneous Fit Camp session for those who want outside and those who want online.
FastTrack Fit Camp is an outdoor fitness business with the focus on improving people on the inside so they feel good on the outside. In 2019 FastTrack Fit Camp became a Social Enterprise and committed to distribute a minimum of 50% of profits back to community environmental projects each year with the goal of helping our local citizens feel good whilst being outside too.