END-OF-YEAR-SPEECH 2021

Yes, I know, it sounds a bit weird, right, seeing that our end-of-the-year function is still four days away?  I have decided to post my speech before Thursday the 25^th, so that more than ever before, our evening can be dedicated to our members, because they are the ones who deserve all the attention!

Our Summer Challenge ended on Friday at 20.00, when all the participants had to make sure that their before and after photos and final body stats were sent in.  They still had time until Saturday afternoon to send their final Mini-Challenge videos, which this time around had to include a partner…

Our Summer Challenge of 2021 has been one hell of a journey, and I can in all honesty say that this 19^th Fitness Challenge has been one of the best so far!  64 of the initial 89 members managed to complete their 36 workouts, and for the past two days I have worked non-stop through everyone’s body stats, sessions, extra points, photos, and results to make sure no one of our “Ohana” workout family is indeed left behind. As I’m typing this Blog, my eyes feel like empty rectangular Kleenex boxes from all the hours of staring at my phone and computer screen.

As I was going through everytone’s stats and results, it just dawned on me – this was so worth the effort and time!  Nine weeks, 63 days, it seems so short, but it’s amazing what can be accomplished when your emotional and physical energy is intact, and your head is in the game.   I am so proud, not only of every single Challenge member, but every member who has chosen to be part of our studio in 2021.

Can I just say how grateful I am towards every member who has not even been part of any Challenge in 2021, but who has also accepted our invite to the function!  We are going to have a blast – more than 60 members have indicated that they will join me for this “Flower power” event.

…I believe Linda will forgive me, but I need to refer to a conversation she and I had one Monday morning before the 8.30 class.  “Ek het eendag raas gekry”, Linda admitted shyly.  “Die dominee het met my geraas oor ek sê ek’s doodseker dat ek Liewe Jesus se witbroodjie is…”  This was Linda talking, ever positive Linda, who, like so many others, lost her husband to Covid recently…

I have thought a lot about her remark ever since, and I think she’s right – I know we are all His favourites, but there comes a time in everyone’s life when each one of us gets a special opportunity to be God’s favourite.  When I look back onto 2021, I’m convinced  that I couldn’t have been anything else than the Lord’s favourite.  We have been blessed in so many ways at Mirna’s Aerobic Studio, and my cup runneth over!

It has been a tough year, tougher than I could ever imagine, and I have worked harder than ever before in my life.  You know, after we had finished our first Zoom Fitness Challenge last year during hard lockdown, I was convinced that I would never again in my life work so hard. Looking back onto 2021 I realize that I have worked even harder this year, teaching an average of 16 to 17 classes per week.  I think the remark I heard most from so many people this past year, was: “I don’t know how you do it…”

In all earnestness, I don’t really know how myself, all I know is that I have been blessed by the Grace of our Lord that throughout the year I hadn’t suffered any major injuries and I was miraculously able to sustain my energy levels.  The tremendous support of Schalk and Eswee and Mariné also pulled me through, and I think Echardt Tolle was so right when he remarked:

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” 

I have led by example, week after week, day after day, and did my utmost to encourage everyone as much as I could.  On all our social media platforms we managed to build relationships with fitness friends from all over the world, and every spare minute was used to create fresh, challenging, and functional content, with mind-blowing playlists.

Time and again I had to remind myself of the words of Akiroq Brost: “Today is all you have. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just do the best you can right now. One day, one moment at a time.” 

And suddenly, here we are, at the end of November, and we can almost say we’ve made it through 2021.

I am very thankful to Edrei, who has been loyally part of our instructor team for two years.  Douw and Edrei are moving to the Cape in December, and although we are all going to miss her dearly, we wish them all the best and know that they will enjoy every minute of this new adventure.

In the same breath I am looking forward to 2022, and at last my prayers have been answered – I have fervently hoped and wished for instructors who love spending time at the studio and who feel inspired about what we represent. 

I have found Carien and Michelle, two gems who have become part of our instructor team recently.  They are both passionate about our studio and all our classes, they love being there and I know their contribution is going to be invaluable!  In the same breath, Jacqueline and Janke have volunteered to sign up for group fitness training too, and Dedré has also indicated that she will be back with us one of these days! I am bursting with excitement about all these dynamic, talented women, inspired to help make our happy place an even happier, and better one!

We are also busy having negotiations with FitPro, the fitness professional training institute, and there is an exciting possibility that our studio might soon become a satellite campus for group fitness and step training in the near future.

In his book “From within I rise”, T F Hodge writes: “Making a dream into reality begins with what you have, not with what you are waiting on.”

At Mirna’s Studio this year I have had the opportunity to work with people making the most of the weird circumstances surrounding Covid.  We focused on the positive, never stopped hoping and believing in our dreams, and that fuelled us to face life outside our yellow building too. 

There have been smiles, laughter, compassion, sweat, hard work, tears and hurt, but above all, we managed to convince ourselves that dreams are more powerful than facts.  That hope always triumphs over experience, that laughter is the only cure for grief, and that imagination is stronger than knowledge.

And now, I can’t wait to get on that stage on Thursday and pay tribute to every member who has been part of our beautiful studio in 2021.  If you are attending the function in the studio on Thursday, and you are reading this, you`ll have an edge in our icebreaker.

When you hear the words “first things first”, rush to the centre of the floor immediately – the person who completes five jumping jacks, and bring a dumbbell and small ball back to the centre of the floor first, will win a prize…

…Next weekend I have the privilege of spending two whole days in Stellenbosch with Schalk, Eswee, Mariné, and Zander.  (Nicole, you`’ll be deeply missed.)  My birthday wish of a picnic at Quoin Rock is going to become a reality, and I can’t wait to share the experience with those dearest to my heart. 

So next week, I am not writing a Blog.  All the results and photos of our function will follow as soons as I return, and every single sponsor of our evening and our Challenge will be thanked and highlighted! 

Thank you to every single person who has swum for new horizons in 2021, but more importantly, who has been courageous enough to lose sight of the shore…

I salute you.

Yours in fitness

Mirna

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