Oh boy, 2021 – I know that we’ll all have have lots to say about it.
I truly thought it was going to be a better year, as with everyone else.
Turns out, it started off pretty rough for the first few days because I had contracted Covid.
Honestly, contracting it myself wasn’t the main issue – it was the fear of possibilities that I may have had infected other people like my family.
Once I had assurance that they were clear of Covid, I was super duper relieved. Phew!
So that was the rough start that I was referring to, but after getting the assurance that my family & loved ones were in the clear, I took the opportunity to really unwind.
Here’s the thing about me, I have never really had an actual break.
I was constantly on the go and working on something – it’s a double edged sword, really.
On one hand, it keeps you going and there’s just so much to learn no matter how minor it may be but that also means that sometimes personal self care takes a back seat.
Guess it is also safe to say that I kinda enjoy the rush from doing different things.
So I took the quarantine period as a sign from above that I should rest.
I call it, prescribed rest – mainly because it is not something that I would do but rather forced into haha.
Took the opportunity to really just stay away from social media to detox for a little.
I didn’t deactivate my account but I wasn’t active on it either- not having to post anything made being present liberating and it was such a grounding experience.
Though I was confined by my 4 walls, I felt free & light.
Picking up meditating on a daily basis probably contributed to that.
My initial intentions were mainly to regulate breathing and to just relax since it is the respiratory system that was compromised with this virus.
Grew to eventually find it really relieving as I also took it as a time to reset the mind and perspective.
Ngl, I really enjoyed the room service that I was getting from my parents hahah.
Each time I needed something, all I had to do was to send a text message into the group chat & the next thing I know, it would be at my door haha.
Very thankful for being taken care by my family at this time – they were also really calm throughout the whole time, even when I was panicking after getting the news.
Since time was in abundance, self reflection was a daily occurrence and quite a number of good habits were formed – the specifics can be found in an older post here.
So tbh, the year felt like it only started in Feb after I was free to go back to society and start work.
Work at that time was something completely new as I had taken up a new role in a new company.
That makes it the 2nd company that I’ve joined during CoVid times – so onboarding was pretty much online. (Love that travel time is being cut down but still prefer face to face)
Ever since the first MCO, I had actually grown accustom to working from home.
Putting aside the usual complaints of not being able to hear clearly, or having too many people talk at once/over each other, I actually do prefer working from home.
It feels more efficient and effective IMO – i mean, there is no need to dress up or get stuck in traffic haha.
All was well & dandy until we were hit with another lockdown.
Unknowingly, it lasted even longer than last year’s 😦
At the very beginning, I was pretty receptive to the idea of it since this time round I would be in my own home vs being at my bf’s place.
I was excited for the experience and the amount of things I could do.
Haha, funny ain’t it – I was thinking of all the content I could create with the excess time.
But as time go by and when I realize that the lockdown was not going to end as quickly as I thought it would, I kinda felt trapped and annoyed.
Trapped because I have no idea what’s about to happen.
Annoyed because I had to rebuild my fitness level – yes, I have done this before and I can do it again but it just doesn’t feel nice when you used to have better stamina & strength.
All I was looking forward to was my morning walks, evening runs and workout sessions.
What caught me by surprise is the various achievements that I made during the lockdown.
I really was not expecting to unlock new skills and have new personal best records.
One of the achievements was running 70+km in a span of 2 weeks (or less, I can’t really remember).
I had blister on my feet but it was such a good experience – was a challenge of course and there were prizes involved haha. Mainly externally motivated but I also wanted to practice a little discipline.
The biggest surprise was unlocking double unders – a skill that I have been trying to unlock for the longest time & I finally managed to.
Was super stoked that it happened. After all, my goal was really just to maintain rather than to unlock new skills.
When the lockdown was extended even more, I just had to satisfy the itch to spin.
That was one thing that I did not do at that time.
From spinning everyday to 0 was a bit drastic – I was really concerned over my stamina hence why I tried to maintain it with daily runs. (It’s still different but it’s better than nothing)
Virtual classes were a thing back then as it was the only access to a class but honestly I hated any form of virtual workouts – its not the same at all.
It’s funny cuz at one point I forgot that I was an instructor and could just ride to my own beats and combo hahah -my colleague had to remind me hahah.
Yet another opportunity arises; I get to curate new playlists ahead of time haha.
The only downside was that it’s damn expensive to rent the bike – worth it, nevertheless.
Slowly the situation got better and eventually we all could go back into the world.
With the reopening of the economy, things were starting to pick up.
Businesses were gearing up to make up for lost time & hence work started becoming more hectic.
Gyms and boutique studios could also finally operate, which meant that I would be going back to teaching.
Again, the workout and teaching portion needed some extra work to regain what was lost.
Home workouts, whether it was strength related or cardio, is just different from when you are actually at the gym or spin studio.
Was really glad to be back but was a little concerned over my performance.
In the end, it turned out alright – thankfully 🙂
I truly felt that 2021 only just begun in the last quarter since everything was ongoing then.
It was also then that I felt my full time job was killing me softly.
Not so much of difficulty with the actual work that needs to be done but more towards the lack of resources and manpower despite asking for help and voicing out for over a month.
Oddly enough, it was another moment of epiphany for me – no amount of money in the world can ever win against mental wellbeing.
My full time job was taking a toll on my mental health – I started having anxiety issues.
Ikr, anxiety and me? Sounds pretty absurd honestly.
Working everyday till 5AM and waking up at 8/9AM to resume work again was a wake up call to me.
That happened for about a week and trust me, without my spin classes, I think I would have lost it.
Despite all the shit that went down, 2021 was an eye opening year with lots of realizations.
The main thing for me was self care, be it mentally or physically.
When you have that peace of mind & are well taken care of, that’s when you can give your best.
Make time for yourself and people who matter to you.
Money can’t buy back time that you’ve lost. Neither can it buy you your mental health.
I made it a point in 2021 to also just do whatever the fuck I wanted because well, it was my last year of being in my 20s hahah.
I refused to wanna let lockdown affect me so among the things that I did for myself was a revamp of my room with RGB lights, bought an inflatable pool to entertain myself & a body pillow of my fave anime character.
Judgements from others were the least of my concerns – in fact it wasn’t even a concern.
What mattered to me was that I was happy & content – which I was 🙂
That happen to include getting a head tattoo hahah. Definitely one of the biggest highlight in 2021!
My hope for 2022? To just have a better quality of life, one month at a time.
CoVid looks like it’s gonna be here for a while more with new variants and such..
But that only means that self care and health are both very important, more so now than ever.
The situation is beyond our control so what’s left is to do what we can.
With that said, this concludes my 2021 recap!
Health is truly wealth at this point.
Eat well, stay hydrated & take care of your state of mind.
Happy 2022 ya’ll!
P/S: If you made it till the end of this blogpost, thanks for reading ❤
vaniamania 