The last 2 years have been extremely tough on everyone. No matter who we are we have had to learn how to live, study, work and play differently. It seems that just as we feel we have this virus sussed out it throws us a curve ball and back we go into another lockdown or deal with a different varient.

Where do we get our confidence from? Numerous times I have been asked how I can be so confident in myself. But really we all struggle with confidence at times. A lot of people have been taught that confidence comes from our achievements and the accolades we receive from others. But in truth our confidence must come from within.

Yesterday as I began my 3rd day of quarantine in a Melbourne hotel, I was looking through Instagram, trying to make time pass by and I came upon a quote from Ralph Marston “See your actions as being driven by your choices, not controlled by your needs.” Later in the day something else came up about the same thing and it made me realise that the universe was sending me some kind of message.

I remember as a little girl I loved getting presents, I mean who doesn’t?! Even today if we are honest with ourselves, we love getting a beautifully wrapped gift to open. Everyone opens presents different, some may just rip it open off excited to see what is under the colourful paper and bows, but some just methodically take the parcel apart trying not to rip the paper so that it can be used again. As a child I think I was a definite paper ripper! But as I got older, I did like taking my time, relishing what was in the parcel.

How many times have we all set goals only to set our sights on the outcome instead of the process? I know that I have done it in the past even during a race by aiming for a specific time or speed that I want to finish in (the end product), instead of looking at the process during the race. Most often than not I fail at reaching that certain time or speed.

This past weekend the 2021 Para Cycling Road World Championships were held at the Circuito Estoril in Cascais, Portugal. On my vision board that I have in my office are the words ‘Gold – World Championships – Portugal June 9-13, 2021, in big bold letters. Little did I know when I put them there that a pandemic would hit the world!

We all experience frustrating times in life and especially in the last 15 months during this pandemic. We all thought that once we got through lockdown last year that life as we know it would return to normal. Well now as us Victorians are into our 4th lockdown the frustration is building again.

I often get questions after a talk about how I stay so positive. Well I have always believed that it is better to be positive than negative. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have my negative times, of course I do, but I really don’t like who I am when I am negative. I have found over the years that no one ever likes hanging around with someone who is constantly negative.

So for about a year now I have tried to put out a blog each week and I have been very diligent in doing it on a Sunday afternoon. Yesterday was Sunday and I had the typical Sunday for me, a day off from training, some laundry and a bit of a tidy around the house. I must say it was a good day for it because it was cold, wet and windy!

For years scientists have spent their entire careers studying and trying to understand how viruses work. They are the ultimate nanomachines that build themselves from smaller components. As Helena Maier, an expert in coronavirus replication at the Pirbright Institute says, “Viruses are incredibly simple yet incredibly complicated. “