Wow has it been a week! The spotlight on George Floyd and the injustices that have occurred for people of color has added another layer (especially for POCs) to what was already a stressful and challenging time. It may even be that the COVID atmosphere of stress and isolation is an element in the air adding to negativity and poor decision making. But it is disheartening to think in this day and age that such a horrific event can still take place.
Although we are a long distance from Minneapolis here in Phoenix, the outcry was fierce here as well and there were protests and riots in various parts of the state. It feels like another fire on the fire already ablaze.
My oldest daughter lives in downtown Phoenix and couldn’t get home one night for hours due to the streets being closed down from rioting, and then she had a homicide occur (unrelated to protests) on the street outside her apartment building.
It felts like so many things were horrible this week. My 14 year old daughter and her friends were walking to the store to get some snacks just a couple of blocks away when two teenagers came by and shot at them with a BB gun. After everything that is going on right now, what could possess kids to be so cruel? My daughter has anxiety ADHD already and it was a pretty big deal for her to venture out independently and now she doesn’t want to leave the house and has decided she hates this neighborhood (understandably).
Our car was broken into the same night – although only change and small items were in the car to steal, it was still a violation and left another bad feeling on an already sad few days.
COVID cases are growing fast in AZ now and it just seems like there is so much uncertainty in the future. We will all have to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
So it was not my best week for training for sure, but one thing I did realize was that it was good to have my training to fall back on to help manage stress, to feel some peace in those hours outdoors running, cycling and doing yoga.
If nothing else, the hours of time spent working to strengthen my fitness and health are a blessing right now. There have been many days when I have not felt like getting out, like turning around when I did get started but I keep moving forward. That is all any of us can do right now. We need to move forward through the uncertainty, through the fear, through the disappointments and tragedies.
Right now, training is therapy.
