Sometimes You May Wish You Could Skip Ahead a Few Pages in the Story of Your Life to See What Happens Next…

By Colleen Walsh Jednak | March 16, 2021

In my life as a sitcom, there is always a story. In fact, everyone always has a story…some people enjoy watching their own story reveal itself through its twists and turns. Others stress about that which they cannot control.

Jack will tell you that I have definitely been known to be anxious when everything falls apart, but I try to bounce back, be creative, enjoy the journey, and breathe. But sometimes…really! 2020???

OK, remember when I left a job I loved at a nonprofit in Westchester and the Bronx to take a job closer to home? And Jack moved home, transferring from James Madison, and Jack and Rufus and I moved…and then moved again, all within one month?

That was all the fall of 2019.

Then 2020 started. Jack had been accepted into UConn Stamford. Rufus was getting used to the new apartment. The disco ball was hung and glittering. I started my new job in recruiting and was promoted on the first day. Things were going well!

I exhaled.

There was this virus overseas. I wasn’t really paying attention until it started getting closer, and people were getting really sick. And then everything shut down. And hiring stopped. So, recruiting stopped.

Hmmm.

Jack asked me what we were going to do. Were we going to be OK? My brother Bill said he wasn’t worried about me…I always land on my feet. I was born to hustle.

I exhaled a tiny bit…but really, I was holding my breath while telling Jack that all would be well.

I contacted all of my personal training clients to see if they were willing to meet with me on FaceTime or Zoom. I didn’t actually know how to Zoom, but I was sure I could learn…

Thankfully, 100% said yes!

Since then, Wellness Now has added more personal training and life coaching clients, and I have started presenting wellness webinars again. I love doing those…I just hadn’t had time for a long time.

I did look for a new job, and several recruiters and companies were very interested, but everything was on hold. I kept trying to take the same advice I give my life coaching clients: Keep breathing. Make a gratitude list. Give yourself some time and space to figure out what you would LOVE to do.

And I walked. I walked and I walked and I walked until I had trained for a marathon. Literally.

Since all the races were canceled, I launched my own with the Buoniconti Fund and raised money for the Ryan Walsh Traumatic Brain Injury Fund in the process. The walking really cleared my head, and some of that nervous energy went away.

I wrote in my journal. I made gratitude lists. I tried to visualize what I wanted next for myself. I gave myself the gift of the Summer of Colleen…so I could paddleboard, walk, see my clients virtually, walk more, and read and write by the pool.

Through all of that, I still met some really interesting people, even with a mask on in a global pandemic.

The result of the Summer of Colleen was a clearer vision. While I appreciated the steadiness of a paycheck, I love being an entrepreneur and choosing which 100 hours a week I get to work for myself. 🙂

I love the flexibility and the creativity. I love bringing health, hope, and happiness to the people I encounter through personal training, life coaching, and motivational speaking.

I ALSO love being part of a team.

That is where the next step comes in…through all my reading, talking, and exploring—and fighting and standing up for Ryan—the journey led me to learn about Aflac.

Yes, the duck.

Anyone who has been following my story since Ryan’s accident knows that I have fought so many insurance companies on his behalf. Learning about Aflac’s approach to supporting policyholders intrigued me.

And I could still make my own schedule? Yes.

I could still see all of my clients in Wellness Now? Yes.

I would still be helping people and businesses? Yes.

I would have a team of people to work with but also be my own boss? Yes.

That was intriguing enough for me to take all the online courses and sit for the insurance exams with a mask on, fogging up my glasses, in a very dystopian experience…and I passed!

So, I started and went through all the training. The people and culture were great. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop after such a crazy year or two.

But the other shoe did not drop.

Jack is graduating WITH HONORS from UConn in May. With honors. In a pandemic. I am so proud of him. And his sense of humor saves me every time I almost get in my own way.

Rufus thinks this pandemic is the greatest thing ever because he gets to spend all his time with us. Wag, wag, wag.

Oh…and I just got promoted at Aflac. Yes, really. I just started the management training program!

I am still trying to fully exhale. Hopefully soon.

That was a lot of change and a super long post. Looking forward to another Summer of Colleen soon, with paddleboarding, walking, and gratitude.

Thank you so much for being part of the story!

Ohhhhmmm…