Light at the End of The Tunnel
Ever since the positive vaccine test results in November, I’ve been saying that there seems to be light at the end of the long Covid tunnel. And that light has been getting a little bit closer every day. With Massachusetts now lifting virtually all restrictions, I feel like the end of the tunnel has arrived.
That doesn’t mean everything will go back to how it was in 2019 overnight. I long resisted working from home, because I enjoyed the routine and social interaction of going to the office. But after 14 months of spending 90-100% of an average week working remotely, I’ve gotten used to it and will probably end up finding a better balance going forward. My car and patience for rush hour traffic will both benefit.
There are other things that will go back to normal but take time. It will feel so strange to be in a large crowd like for a concert or sporting event. I attended the Boston Celtics game on March 8th last year, not knowing it would be their last home game of the season before the NBA shut down and eventually went to their bubble in Florida. I had very little idea at the time, but looking back now that was an incredibly risky thing to have done. Although if I really did have Covid in January 2020 like I now suspect, then I had some protection. It will probably take a long time before doing something like that feels normal and comfortable.
Whatever my new normal looks like going forward, I’ve learned plenty of things along the way. We are more adaptable and resilient than we realize. I can remain calm in the face of stress, whether that’s a pandemic or a stock market drop. We’ve learned who really are the “essential” workers we need, and hopefully have a better appreciation for them. And technology is a wonderful tool that made so much of this considerably more bearable, but it’s no substitute for enjoying the company of people we care about. So as we hit the unofficial start to summer here in 2021, let’s enjoy how bright the future looks.
The author of this article is Tom Lally, Wealth Manager Assistant at U.S. Wealth Management.
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