How many times since March have you said or heard the two-word sentence “Be safe!”? It seems to have become as popular as the three-word question – “How are you?”. I had a classmate in college named Ian who would never respond to that question because he believed it was disingenuous. Whatever! I wonder if Ian feels the same about “Be safe”.

Have you flown this summer? Even if not, you have likely been to the grocery or the building supply store. No? Some haven’t. I know people who order food online and leave it sitting for a 72-hour period before bringing it into their house. How about the gas station? Well, I guess if you don’t grocery shop and stay in self-quarantine, there is no need to fill up the tank. I’m waiting for AAA to offer a full-time service to fill up gas tanks for people without calling it an emergency roadside service.

Do you think this is a time of extensive evolution? Telehealth, an online shopping explosion, work from home expansion and so much more seems to indicate this could be occurring. I am working with a company that has developed allergy immunotherapy that can for the most part be self-administered. Do you ever go to the bank, save for an occasional ATM cash withdrawal?

Grace Hopper once wrote – “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” Are we built for staying at home? It surely appears to be the safest thing to do. Or is it? Our economy is devastated, multiple lines of evidence indicate that COVID-19 has profound psychological and social effects. According to a QLM article “The psychological sequelae of the pandemic will probably persist for months and years to come. Studies indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with distress, anxiety, fear of contagion, depression, and insomnia in the general population and among healthcare professionals. COVID-19 survivors may also be at elevated suicide risk.”

And according to this article, ways of helping are needed. No kidding! We all have restrictions, regardless of where we live. For the most part, we all want to be safe. And that leads to the topics of change and risk-taking. Change is difficult for most of us. We are creatures who flock to what is familiar. And even if the familiar is difficult, it is what we know and often where we are drawn to. It’s philosophically puzzling to think that one might be more attracted to a familiar, yet dangerous place more than to change that provides safety and improved conditions. It reminds me of Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity, which I assume you already know. Think of this, we often prefer not risking a change in favor of risking imminent danger. And when fear often stands for false evidence appearing real, it becomes our resistance to change.

Recently media mogul Jimmy Lai was raided by police in Hong Kong at the newsroom of his pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily. He was arrested and accused of colluding with foreign forces in violation of Beijing’s new security law in Hong Kong. According to The Epoch Times, nearly 200 police officers raided the Apple Daily newsroom. Under the circumstances, Jimmy Lai was willing to risk his safety for what he believed in, which is apparently to report the truth about what is happening there. If Jimmy and his team had not reported the news from Hong Kong as it pertained to this topic, they would likely have not been raided and arrested. But they are reporters and they are supposed to report the news.

How about you? What is your purpose? What are you meant to be doing? Are you doing it or are you playing it safe and staying safely in port? Are you climbing the steps toward meeting your potential and fulfilling your purpose? Do you have a plan, and in the process of executing it, or are you standing pat until COVID blows over? If so, you are likely blowing in the wind like the dust outside my California desert home.

Perhaps to some degree, Bob Dylan was accurate when he wrote “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind”. But I think there is more to the meaning of life than tossing our hands up, behaving as victims of circumstance or resisting action, change, and improvement. Things happen, but worthwhile things never happen without impetus, so sticking close to your comfort zone will never accomplish much of anything. Continue the journey you were intended for, even if it means discovering what that is first. That is the most essential part of the trip and it will require taking some risk. Be safe but not too safe because, you like a ship, are meant to sail!