It's been a Challenge!

There is no doubt that Covid-19 has changed our lives.
There we were, pottering on, not really noticing the passing of the days, not really noticing how much freedom we had, then BAM! everything stopped.

Suddenly, many of us had time on our hands, it was a novelty, we painted fences, cut grass, weeded flowerbeds. For those of us who couldn't go to work it was quite nice, except we didn't have any of the freedom we'd taken for granted. That novelty soon started to wear off!

We were restricted to an hours exercise, and even those who'd never really thought about exercise before started to get out and walk or cycle or run. Some of us had to stay within the confines of our own homes as we had conditions that made us more vulnerable if we caught the virus.

Then there were the people who had to got to work, they had no choice but  to brave the virus day after day, looking after those who were sick, caring for the vulnerable in their own homes, opening up the essential shops, clearing away our rubbish, keeping out streets safe, teaching the children of key workers, amongst many other jobs.

Working from home became to norm, some were trying to educate their children whilst taking conference calls, some were trying to move their businesses online to keep an income, to say it's been a challenge for most people is an understatement!

Sadly this virus has taken lives too, it has rampaged throughout the world, leaving heartache and devastation in it's wake. 

But, the human spirit is strong, we have pulled together and we have shown how much we care about each other. We have volunteered, we have checked on our neighbours and some of us have met people in our streets that we didn't even know lived there!

At Happy Feet we have grown in to an even stronger community, we have offered each other  support and motivation, we have checked up on those who have gone quiet and we have shared our highs and lows. We have celebrated milestones, Sharon's half marathon on her own, Pippa's 10k, Mary and Gill covering 67 miles each for their birthdays, Hollie's solo couch to 5k comeback....the list could go on and on.

We have discovered hidden talents too...who knew we had a brilliant ukulele player in our midst, Steve's songs have really cheered us up! 

Challenge Tuesday has brought us all together on one day of the week to run, walk or cycle as far as we can as a team, knowing that we aren't alone has really helped. We haven't all been able to participate on a Tuesday for a variety of reasons, but the cheers form the sidelines really do help!

We have had quizzes and photo challenges, Caitlin and Mary have been instrumental in those, they are determined to keep our minds active too!

As the restrictions start to ease and we can begin to venture back out in to the world, I hope that all the positives that have come from this awful time will stay with us, that we continue to say hello to our neighbours and look out for each other, that we allow ourselves the time to appreciate what we have.
Keep active and keep safe everyone, we aren't out of the woods yet!