How does one cope when something like this hits your world?

In the early days, before I actually took the decision to close the doors of Kinetic, I felt as though I was standing on a downward escalator, desperately trying to get up. Every little progress I made, limiting the amount of clients in the building at any given time, washing and cleaning surfaces and hands till they were pink and raw, still we were being drawn towards the inevitable…

I decided to close the doors on Thursday 19th March, earlier than the call made by Boris, but I had given the whole situation a lot of thought and felt it was the right thing to do. No amount of cleaning and distancing ourselves would have given my staff and our clients the protection they needed to fight this pandemic and delaying the inevitable, I realised was purely for selfish reasons…. Not financial you must understand. For me Kinetic is much more than a wage packet…

Seven years ago this June 1st, Jess and I opened Kinetic. It was something I had dreamt about but had not truthfully imagined I could achieve. But when Jess announced she wanted to train to become a Sports Therapist like myself, it was all I needed to propel me into action. When I found The Griffin, the premises we call our professional home, I just knew it was THE place! Fast forward 7 years and here we are….a hub of likeminded professional therapists, determined to help those who seek us out with our very broad spectrum of knowledge.

We have a core of young enthusiastic professionals, the next generation of Kinetic I’m sure…and it is those who I was fighting to stay open for… Their faces when I announced that I didn’t know when we would be back broke my heart, it still does….

We are just starting week 5 as I write this blog. Ive had some time to digest things and of course come to terms with the whole situation. I’ve realised I’m quite a pragmatic person.. The initial panic mode sent me into a week-long ‘tailspin’. During which time, with the help of my even more pragmatic better-half, Chris I started to practise what I preach, so to speak. I delved deep into my professional bag of tricks and started to use deep breathing and neuro-muscular activation techniques and soon I had calmed the storm and I was able to see much clearer where I needed to be…

My time has been quite relaxing if truth be told. I have spent more time than I had for many years (probably 7) exercising on a regular basis, listening to audiobooks, learning new business development skills, renewing my love of cooking, and most importantly reducing my normal living speed down from about 120mph to a probable 30…Don’t get me wrong, Im missing my life. I’m missing my golf like I’d miss my left foot….Im missing my family and friends….Im missing my work….I’m even missing 7am starts and 8pm finishes…but I’m healthy, my loved ones are healthy and I’m probably more determined to make my life more fulfilling when things get back to some kind of normality.

I can’t be sure my business will survive, just like the next small business…

I can’t be sure my clients will come back after the lockdown ends….thats up to them…

…but I can be sure that I will be there, day in day out, doing what Ive always done, helping those who sought my help, advice or business premises.

If I can give any kind of advice to anyone out there struggling to come to terms with life at the moment, I would say-

Don’t stress about things you cannot do anything about. Whats going on in the world is affecting just that, the whole world!

Worrying about how the economy is going to react and how this affects us?……we can’t influence that.

Worrying whether we will ever get our holidays or if shopping centres will open as before…..who knows?

By following guidance from our Government and Health Authorities, we can take care of ourselves and those around us. We can eat healthy and get regular exercise. Appreciate our friends and family and the support network around us, and ensure that even if things are not the same as before, we know our lives priorities and we appreciate everything we have and can achieve.

In the weeks to come things will undoubtedly start to settle and change. There will come a time when the restrictions imposed at the moment will slowly be lifted, and we can start to look forwards towards bringing some old familiarity to our days. With this in mind I will certainly be looking forwards to seeing some of you in person rather than via the internet and phone. In the meantime I wish you all good health, I hope you all stay safe in the confines of your homes but mostly I hope you stay mentally strong and optimistic of what your futures bring.

Much love,

Gayle x