9 Years

It has been 9 years now.

And there's a modest chance I may go back to a job in this 10th year.

Other than the time between June 2012 and Oct 2013, when I had the most heartbreak while chasing my Boston qualification, I have not come close to the amount of mental flux I have had in the 12 months (esp the last 6, which must be common with everyone in the world right now!). 

Ill-health and misfortune has been a scourge in the lives of several people dear to me. That has hurt my head quite a bit. 

Partly as a result of that churn in my head and a lot of disrupted sleep, I gained ~2 kg after the first month of the lockdown (when I had actually dropped 0.5 kg, although I ran only on the terrace of my house). I am still trying to shake off 1 of those 2 kgs.

My son continues to drive a lot of my life's decisions. What I underestimated is the amount of time raising a kid, especially in the early years, takes. And that became very pronounced for a 15 day period when we didn't have a nanny, a little while ago. As a stopgap measure, I began using a spin bike 2 months ago, to stay fit while not leaving the house. I like it enough to continue doing it, although there are no restrictions on stepping outside now, where I live.

I continue to run without a plan although I had a memorable race at Mumbai in Jan where I ran my 2nd fastest marathon in India. I am grateful to just stay in shape and manage to run.

Coaching remains my primary source of income although the start of the calendar year had a couple of surprises. I did a motivation talk at a company's offsite (my first and only day-trip to Goa, till date!) and then consulted for another company on running, for a bit. I also got an opportunity to work with two people I love, over the past 3 months or so. That has been quite a nice experience. I also started a blog for sharing interesting content that comes by way, for the people I coach. That was born out of weekly calls we started doing, in the absence of our weekly face-to-face meetings, where we began discussing interesting content we had consumed in the week gone by dschool.substack.com That among others has also resulted in my beginning to write a bit every week.

Reading has been better than the previous year but very start-stop. Wait for my annual post on the books I read. Again, audiobooks and podcasts have been helpful.

I learnt a little bit of Spanish and among other fun items it ushered into my life was this delightful South American cartoon called Mafalda. Look it up if you haven't heard of it already.

I continue to be grateful for so many good things in my life. I only wish the same and more for myself and for you, my dear reader. And an extra serving of good health to everyone.

And as with the last few years, now that you are here, say hello, write in and let me know how you have been and anything else you have been perhaps meaning to say :)