How many times have we hung on to something so tight that we never wanted to let it go? Or held back on trying something new due to fear of failure, embarrassment or rejection? The protective walls that we build around ourselves can sometimes be stifling but they can also be useful during particularly difficult times which create a safe environment where we can heal.

None of us likes to be wrong or make mistakes! I know that I hate it, but why do we feel like it is the worst thing? Being wrong or making a mistake can leave us feeling unworthy or less valuable. We think people are always watching and seeing our mistakes. But sometimes we are the only one that really notices our mistakes because the rest of the world is more worried about themselves.

I don’t know about the rest of you but lately it seems that everyone is angry! I have had people, mostly women, yelling at me on my trike. One woman became angry because I rang my bell to let her know I was there as she opened her car door. I thought I was just being safe and polite.

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!

How many really good friends do you have in your life? I am one of the lucky ones that I actually need my two hands to count the number of true friends I have. Those friends who would stand by you no matter what and who accept you for who you are, not who they think you should be, warts and all!

The one thing that I have been learning from my daily meditation is to live in the moment and within that moment to accept whatever is happening be it good or bad. If we are trying to change things then we aren’t accepting what is in this exact moment. We have to be open to each new moment without expectation. Let go of the past as each new moment emerges.

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. “

No doubt you are thinking that I am going to be writing about the masks that we are wearing currently due to COVID – 19, but I’m not. Those are essential masks that we should be using! What I am talking about is learning to love who we are and accept ourselves instead of trying to be someone that we aren’t.

As I am writing this blog I am sitting looking out at Batemans Bay in New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Yes I have escaped the confines of Melbourne. Who would have thought that I would be talking about escaping exactly a year ago when we first went into lockdown! This pandemic has changed the whole world.