Finding My Element: Part 2 - From stumble to stable

In the second part of an ongoing series, I’ll be documenting my journey to a smarter, healthier and sustainable lifestyle in partnership with Mississauga’s Element CrossFit.
Read Part 1 by clicking here…yup, right here…anywhere on this line.

I feel my life is simple, happy, fulfilled, and modest, and I quite like it that way.
I strive to keep from upsetting my proverbial apple cart, have world-class people beside me, and am fairly predictable…mostly.
I live alone in my home with two cats and a few guitars. I haven’t turned my television on in over a year and I’m fairly certain the cashiers at Highland Farms know my grocery shopping schedule.
Pretty stable stuff, right? Well…enter September 2021.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, I own Modern Mississauga Media, which in the pre-pandemic times, saw me travel 1-2 times a month for media visits, along with some automotive travel. I publish a bi-monthly magazine and do a high volume of video and photography work, along with a few other fun aspects of being an entrepreneur.

Being double jabbed since June 20th, the travel world has seen a slow and steady resurgence, with September being the busiest travel month I’ve had since February 2020 (I was away 24 of 29 days.)

So Jay, what’s with the long intro; I know all this stuff…tell me about the stumbling part!
Ok, ok; I’m getting there!

Drumheller, AB at the Blues festival, somehow maintaining a steady weight of 173 lbs.

“Not quite burnt out but self aware enough to sense the smoke, I realized if nothing changed and I didn’t sharpen my time allocation, I’d never get to a class and keep working 12 to 14 hour days. ”

My last of four one-on-one training sessions with Kristen from Element was on Wednesday, September 1st at 4:00 I was to start attending group classes (in a very safe, clean and guideline-following environment) the second week of September 6th.

Enter the stumbling part…

I was invited to Alberta on kinda short notice, so I was there from the 10th to the 15th.
Knowing I’d be away, I had to work twice as hard the four days leading up to my flight.
Classes attended: 0

I landed at 9-something on the 15th, had to adjust to the time difference, prepare for a four-hour video shoot on Thursday at 8:00 am and a five-hour photo shoot at 5:30 pm that night.
Classes attended: 0

The 17 to 19th was consumed with catching up on emails and work assignments that came in while I was away.
Classes attended: 0

The third week was deadline week for the Autumn issue, which is kinda chaotic but I love it.
Writing, editing, chasing ads, closing last minute advertisers, plus the regular array of video projects.
Classes attended: 0

“It was a bit nerve-inducing to reschedule an entire morning with little lead time.”

Still 173 lbs, still working, and with a new hat.

The last week of September saw me thoroughly determined to get to three classes; Monday, Thursday, Sunday.
A short-notice two-day media trip to Niagara Falls and putting out fires with the Autumn issue changed that quickly.

Not quite burnt out but self aware enough to sense the smoke, I realized if nothing changed and I didn’t sharpen my time allocation, I’d never get to a class, keep working 12 to 14 hour days and never get a chance to see the fall colours.

Enter the stabilizing part:

Check out who’s great in training lane 8!

On Thursday afternoon, I fully cleared my Friday morning calendar and the only addition was a 9:30 class, led by David, who’s a stellar fella.It was a bit nerve-inducing to reschedule an entire morning with little lead time, especially as my work schedule runs on 30 minute blocks, so eight blocks worth.
It felt so good to be in motion again and it felt even better to start regaining time for me.

I remembered a quote that said “nobody is coming to save you; this life is 100% your responsibility” and it surfaced on Thursday afternoon.
Now I’m not looking to be “saved” by any means. Rather, I interpret it as reminding myself of responsibilities and commitments I’ve made, and creating time to fulfill them.

This isn’t meant as a preaching piece; I’m documenting my journey to find my element and for those of us that start with grand plans and then do stumble along the way, it’s always possible to stabilize with the right actions.

Hmmm, maybe it is preachy after all…

If you’ll excuse me, my legs and core are still burning from today’s workout and I still need to get 3,000 more steps in before bed.