Regain Motivation

How are we already into October? Where have the last seven months gone?

This is our final year in Germany, and we were going to go out with a BANG! Big plans for traveling and exploring things we couldn’t easily do before because the triplets were less independent.  However, here we are, seven months after the pandemic first started to cripple normal life as we knew it.

And to be honest, I don’t think I have recovered.

At first, when everything was shutting down and no one was fully sure what the future would bring, I stayed optimistic that life would eventually go back to a normal flow. I have a huge passion for fitness and bringing women together to grow and inspire each other. So much so, that I began hosting group workouts at my house for people to come together and lift each other up—bring your littles, no expectations, no rules, no excuses kind of mentality. I had this excitement in me you couldn’t squash if you tried.

And then everything came to a sudden halt, and I feel like I have slowly been losing my motivation and have a harder time finding happiness in the things that brought me so much joy before.

Like I mentioned before, we are a big traveling family. With so many trips scheduled and planned throughout the year or family coming to visit, 2020 was going to be amazing! The year would be a blur of fun and excitement, with something always around the corner to look forward to.

Many of our family members who had plans to come earlier in the year rescheduled their flights to this fall, and unfortunately, all those trips too had to be canceled. It seems like every other week we are experiencing some potential quarantine situation again, to include limited travel restrictions and waiting to see what countries are green and open for travel. Not to mention, we are still unable to fly.

It seems like the McLaughlins are not just riding out the rest of our time in Germany now. That thought makes me incredibly depressed, because living in Germany has been easily one of the best experiences of our lives! Between the festivals, people, cultures, traveling, overall way of life, and expanding our family, this is not how I saw the remainder of our time here passing.

So, goodness knows with everything that I look forward to having been removed, I turned inward.

I immersed myself in my exercise routine throughout the bulk of the COVID rush. But even now that is beginning to lose its appeal. With some restrictions lifting, I have been able to host group workouts again, but they aren’t the same.

I used to have upwards of 12 women in my house, all jumping and laughing and having fun and connecting through smiles and sweat.

Now, many people are afraid of the potential of contracting something by being in a group, and many people have PCS’d and moved away.

Now my group workouts usually consist of a handful of women and me.

Life as a whole just feels funny now, almost like it’s all a bit fuzzy. Days blur together, and you’re left rubbing your eyes trying to regain your focus.

I know the things that used to bring excitement and connection into my life. Now it’s time to adjust and come at it from a different angle to continue to bring good vibes into my life. There is still joy and peace in things, even if it may not be like it used to be. However, I am still socializing with a handful of amazing women every week.

I also still have my family’s health. Luckily none of us have been sick, which is truly incredible considering the triplets believe it is their life mission to personally lick clean any public surface. With approved passes, we are able to explore and enjoy parts of Germany we may not have gone to see before.

No matter what there is always a silver lining.

So, when you feel like you are losing your motivation, take a moment, collect yourself, and remember why these things brought love and happiness to your life.

Take that first step—it may feel like the path is unclear, but you will be one step closer to finding out where you’re going.

That sounds a lot better than sticking around in limbo. We are stronger than what this year has taken from us.