A lot has happened in the last year. We lost my mother-in-law, Rita Gartner, to pancreatic cancer. She was a big part of my life for over 30 years. One of the many ways Rita (and Jack, my father-in-law) influenced my husband's and me was through international travel. She was a travel agent and helped facilitate our trips for many years. Even after she retired, we could consult her, but in the last few years we had to learn to plan our trips ourselves. I realized that planning those details was not my favorite part of travelling. I realized I need to hire a professional to help. The age of information technology makes it seem like we should all be able to do everything ourselves. There are Youtube videos showing you how to fix your leaky faucet and Pinterest posts on the “best” itinerary for 5 days in Scotland. But I don’t want to obsess over flight itineraries and finding the best deal on a cool place to stay. Just because the internet makes the information available doesn’t mean I’ll be good at fixing a faucet or organizing a trip. I don’t want to spend the time it would take to get good at it. Let someone else do that.
The internet also has a lot of free workout videos. It is possible to get an exercise routine designed by an AI. And if you don’t mind working out along someone you don’t know and have no relationship with, that’s cool. I did it during the pandemic. And if you don’t have any old injuries or weird new aches and pains (thanks, aging process!) and you don’t need anyone to help you make adjustments, the AI workout might be just fine (although I’ve found them to be quite vague).
I’m good at putting together a workout program. But that’s not the whole picture of personal training. I’m also good at observing movement, improvising and experimenting when confronted with a complication, and making conversation. It’s the human element that’s often missing these days. And I’m glad to be delivering on that!
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