I have been unemployed for 3.5 months.
During this period I have attempted to embark on a few new little ventures.
1. Day trading - the Coronavirus Crash, due to the pandemic, was a golden opportunity to make some financial profits. Alas...
2. Cooking - we now have a Thermomix, a wok and a toaster oven. They have taken up all the bench space in (and out of) the kitchen. It was fun when it was purely experimental, but not so much when it started becoming a chore. Particularly with the procurement of ingredients.
3. Exercising - this was the one thing that I was really set on developing and maintaining a routine, especially after learning that a close friend was diagnosed with cancer - the vigorous and horrible kind. She has always been physically healthy and athletic so it came to me as a wake up call for myself. Since moving countries 4 years ago I have been indulging gastronomically more than ever, but I really can't say that I have been looking after myself or taking care of my body. I have been putting on weight, so gradually and so consistently, that it feels (disgustingly) natural and acceptable. I knew that this could not go on any longer and if now was not the time to change, then when?
The toughest part in exercising was at the beginning. It took me 2 months to complete a 4-week program. Nevertheless, there were a few reasons that kept me going:
a. The blaring fact that I was jobless - there was no excuses that I couldn't set aside 1-2 hours a day.
b. I enjoyed the cool down session very much - they were made up of a series of stretches and yoga moves.
c. My body was so sore that I would awake from my sleep at night, but instead of deterring me from the next gruesome session, it was just at that exact level where it was telling me that something magical was about to happen to my muscles, that pain could actually be.. pleasurable(!!).
I was very pleased that I got all the way to the end of Day 28 and absolutely smashed it. Well, I didn't smash the 2-week workout that followed either, but I am now on to my second round of the same 2-week program - just so that I could confidently say that I "absolutely smashed it" when the time comes.