I am self-isolating with my husband. We have each other. He is annoying. I love him.
David has embraced this challenging time completely. He doesn’t really have a choice! His business is closed and he has 40 staff to care for. He has a family to support too. He’s taking some classes via Zoom.us and leading his Personal and Group trainers to maximise their talents online. I am adding some social media instruction to the mix.
For a taste of his rather unique style, contact @davidlabouchere. If you want to be fitter or faster, join him for a class: the first one is free.
I have been astonished by the younger generation who appear to be fighting this change. They totally believe that it will all blow over soon. They think they can sleep in now – hibernate – and continue life as it was before when it is all over.
Maybe it’s a generation thing, but we both believe life will never be the same again, that there are amazing opportunities in all this and that we can unlock those if we think outside the box, with optimism and positive action.
I’m deeply aware that there are some terrible things going on and that we must support each other to the best of our ability. New green shoots of the old-fashioned community are sprouting all around us. We drink coffee and have social gatherings with those we feel are most isolated… on video conferencing apps!
It is all too easy to listen to the news, be bombarded by social media and feel doom and gloom. It is a choice as to how we get through this. We can let life happen to us. However, we are the only species on earth that has the capacity for imagination and forward planning. We must use that ability. So: I am alive, and I have no choice but to live my life fully. Exist and wait? Out of the question.
I am missing human contact more than anything. Zoom is great but there is nothing in this world like seeing, smelling, touching and communicating in three dimensions with other humans outside my man.
My approach is that this is the new normal; it is evolving and evolution takes time. I’m in it for the long term. I won’t look back at what was. I will look forward to what might be!
I have set myself some progressive challenges that I can approach indoors:
- A stable and sustainable headstand and, depending on my progress, this may develop into a hand stand.
- 50 unsupported pushups, which I find very hard as I have very little upper body strength.
- 250 consecutive air squats. This challenge is going well, I’m well over 100 already.
People will change their regimes as the previously unimaginable becomes reality. At the simplest level, I’m wondering how many people will embrace being grey at the end of this (no professional hair colorists working!), how many will have different beauty regimes, who will have different priorities in life!
What will be will be, it certainly won’t be what was!
Caroline Labouchere
Mother of two grown-up children and wife, for nearly thirty years of a now retired, senior British Army officer. Modelling for the first time at the age of 53 she led a full-page campaign in eight editions of British Vogue, and in Tatler, Hello and White Magazines.