The day my city shook
We all have our stories about February the 22nd, how that historic day changed the path of our worlds in ways we had never considered. I thought I would tell you my story. Who am I? I’m Fitness in Christchurch.
Before February the 22nd I had an amazing existence. I was loved my many, my home was like a Disneyland for exercise where I had an abundance of world class facilities and an outdoor playground that was the envy of many of my visitors. I could see my influence everywhere which made people happy. It was easy to see why I loved Christchurch. But after February 22nd all of this changed.
It was hard to comprehend the damage to my world. The abundance I was so proud of had quickly disappeared; to be honest I didn’t even know where home was at first. So many of my gyms, cycle routes, sports fields and walking/running trails had been wiped out. My support network was dwindling by the day with many Personal Trainers’, coaches, facilitators and instructors having to leave town due to their own tough circumstances. It was so hard, but the hardest part of all was that many people forgot about me. For years I had been there to help people through their stressful times and in this time, one of the most stressful times ever, I was lost in all the uncertainty. What was I to do?
Sure this was a tough time but I knew people needed me. The term ‘Rise Up’ became popular so like every other Cantab I knew I had to focus! My network of fitness leaders created innovative ways to get me back into full steam. Thanks to these amazing people I was popping up in all types of places and although there were now limitations on how I was done, new locations, temporary gyms and different pathways and trails, I had people smiling again and helped them have a few moments where life felt normal.
As people started paying me more attention, I slowly came back into people’ lives. It was a small snowball at first but the momentum grew, I was starting to have a positive impact again. Most importantly people were spending more time with me and while a few were focused on getting rid of that ‘quake weight’ just about all of them loved the stress release I gave.
February the 22nd shook my world upside down but when you drive around this weekend and see me everywhere you can be reminded of just how great it is to live in this amazing city!
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