Enduring change

Hooray! Fully vaccinated, I recently went to New York City to visit my daughter. We took the subway (double-masked and loaded with hand sanitizer), dined out(side), strolled the streets at a social distance, and avoided museums, shops, and most other indoor activities. It was here, meandering through Manhattan, that I forgot about living in a pandemic. Boy was it nice to take in new scenery (see above) and enjoy some family time.

It all sounds pretty carefree, right? Sort of. I didn’t feel like I was taking a big risk and I’d built in all the sensible precautions I could think of. But behaviors and comfort zones are hard to change, even after more than a year of being on high alert. Mindfulness is the only way to ensure you change. Set up guardrails—little check-ins to make sure you’re moving in the direction you want. My trip to the Big Apple was only possible because I’d done just that.