I’ve got a confession to make –
I’m Pissed. I’m Angry. I’m Fearful. I’m Depressed.
I’m Worried. I’m Anxious. I’m Lonely. I’m Sad.
I’m Disgusted. I’m Disturbed. I’m Selfish. I’m Moody.
I’m Motivated. I’m Focused. I’m Grateful. And I’m Hopeful………

Essentially, like most of you I’m sure, I have experienced a great deal of mixed emotions these past few weeks. Many of these emotions I feel embarrassed to admit. As someone who prides himself as being emotionally detached from most feelings and tries to present a machine like persona to those that surround me, the events that have occurred all over the world within the past few weeks have been a serious wakeup call for me. I honestly feel as if I’m living through a bad dream and have yet to wake up. With each day that passes, more bad news occurs. The death toll continues to rise. The infections continue to multiply by the hundreds. More and more businesses begin to close their doors and as a result, more and more people continue to lose their jobs. The economy continues to suffer. The world is officially at war.

The Power of Positivity

Earlier this week, I wrote an open face letter in which I addressed to COVID-19 and posted it on both our Facebook and Instagram Platforms. At the time I wrote the letter, I was angry with the hoarders who had been hoarding foods, medications and toiletries, and felt that they needed to be called out for their disgusting behaviour. Looking back now, I question myself if this was in fact the right thing to do. During a time where there is already so much negativity in the world, I feel that my letter only added fuel to this furious feary of fire that has begun to emit hatred, racism, and a complete lack of respect and compassion for our fellow man/woman.

Last night I posted a video on one of my Instagram Stories mocking the Toilet Paper Bandits. The video was more lighthearted than my letter and was created to add a bit of humour to a very serious and fearful situation. I’m a firm believer that during times like these, a little bit of positivity can go a long way. Don’t mistake this positivity for ignorance though, as I’m very informed as to what’s going on with COVID-19. I’m just refusing to allow this large family of viruses to control me and dictate as to how I’m going to live my life.

Sucking At Social Distancing

I’m definitely NOT an expert on the Coronavirus which is why I pay attention when the experts who are speak. And from what I’ve been told, besides from washing our hands and practicing good hygiene, another way to help prevent the spread of this deadly virus is to practice Social Distancing from one another for the time being. Well, for most people this shouldn’t be too hard to do. I mean most people these days spend more time texting than talking anyways. In all honestly, how often have you bumped into someone on the street that you follow on Instagram or like their posts on Facebook, yet completely ignore them and pretend you don’t see them when you’re outside the Cyber World?

Therefore one would think that being asked to stay inside and avoid as much human contact as possible would be considered a luxury for most people. Well unfortunately for many of us (which I include myself here) this task has proven actually more difficult to perform than I originally had thought. I interact with hundreds of people on a daily basis (or at least I use to anyways). Unfortunately due to COVID-19 those numbers are roughly a fraction or less of what they use to be. I’ve had to ask clients not to come into the gym who have travelled Internationally within the past 3-4 weeks. I’ve had to ask clients who have compromised immune systems not to workout and train with us until further notice. And I’ve had to ask both of my parents to keep their distance from me as I could be asymptomatic, and their generation has been shown to be the most vulnerable to contacting COVID-19.

So to say that I feel a bit lonely and isolated would be an understatement. However given the fact that my Grandparents were both called to war to protect the world, and I’m just being called to my couch, I think I’ll manage.

Bringing Out The Best In People At The Worst Of Times

I understand that many of you reading this week’s blog feel most if not all the emotions that I listed in my confession. However I think it’s important to not lose sight on the facts. And the facts are that we NEED to practice good hygiene and that we NEED to practice social distancing. But we also NEED to practice being united as one. There is no time to be prejudice and there is no need to be racist. THIS IS NOT a “Chinese Virus”. COVID-19 is a family of large viruses that is effecting us all. And in my opinion, the only way that we the world, are going to win this war, is if we create a united front and work together rather than work against one another.

Instead of hoarding foods and medications, offer to assist the sick and the needy by helping them gather their own essential necessities. Instead of sensationalizing these viruses and inflicting fear amongst the public, do your research and read FACTUAL data and scientific findings that provide informative content that can help generate awareness amongst the public, so that we can help slow down and prevent further infections from occurring. And instead of downplaying the severity of the current situation, listen to what the medical health experts and researchers are telling you to do, so the situation itself doesn’t get any worse.

And finally, instead of feeling lost and hopeless, know that you’re not alone, and we will pull through this together!

“The Most Violent Element In Society Is Ignorance”
Emma Goldman

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance