Captain’s Log – Day 52

Captain’s Log – Day 52

Hello My Friends –

How are you? I hope all is well with you and your families and you’re doing everything you can to stay healthy, safe and sane. I think I’ve only got 2 out of 3 but I’m working on it.

They say hindsight is 20/20. We never really know if we’ve made the right decision until we have to live with the consequences. Was it worth it? Would we go back and change our decision if we knew what the outcome would be? Until they invent a time machine, there is no way of knowing if a different decision would have resulted in a better or worse outcome. It's not healthy to dwell on deeds done because there is nothing we can do to change the past but we can and should learn from it. What’s done is done. We should stop trying to go back to the people we were and the world we lived in and start planning on how to move forward in the new post-2020 pandemic world. Forget the past, forget anyone that tries to divide us because, like it or not, we are all in this together. We’re all connected and the things we do today will have a ripple effect. So, where do we go from here? How do we move forward? How do we get out of this holding pattern and start spreading our wings again?



We all want to get back to living our lives without restrictions. We want to visit our friends and family. We want our kids to be able to go to school and outside to play with their friends. We want to go out for dinner and drinks. We want to be able to shop in stores and not have to wait in long lines, six feet apart. We want to be able to find what we need on the shelves of those stores. We want to watch our favorite sports teams. We want to travel. We want to go to concerts, parties, graduations and weddings. We want to comfort those who are suffering with a big hug. We want to be able to see people smile. Even if we love our new commute, some of us even want to go back to work in our offices. As much as we may want things to go back to the way they were before, we need to accept the fact that things will not be going back to “normal” anytime soon, if ever. There will be a new “normal” and we will need to adapt. This pandemic has changed all of us and it is up to us to decide whether those changes will be for the better or worse. Have you found a silver lining to our current situation? Have you learned something about yourself and your life? Have you changed? If so, do you think it is for the better?

Many states are starting to reopen various businesses with certain safety measures in place. Is it the right thing to do? Is it worth the risk? Is it a tradeoff? The lesser of two evils? I don’t think anyone really has the answer. At some point, we will all need to make the decision that is right for us and our families. The decision to shut down was made to slow the spread of the virus, not eliminate it because there is no way to completely eliminate it. The decision to shut down and isolate was made to prevent everyone from getting the virus at the same time. I think that has worked but at what cost? There are thousands of protesters out there demanding that the restrictions be lifted so they can go back to work but is it too soon? Are they rushing out into the eye of the storm because they can see a sliver of clear skies? The eye of the storm is calm and peaceful and you may think it is safe to go out but the eye is the only peaceful part of the hurricane. The center of low pressure is the eye and the lower the central pressure, the fiercer the storm and the higher the winds. Once you pass through the eye, you hit the wall and it’s hell on wheels.

Exitus Acta Probat is commonly misinterpreted as “the end justifies the means” but the more precise translation is “the result justifies the deed.”

Reopening too early could be a lot like celebrating a Super Bowl Victory when you are up 28-3 with 2:12 left in the 3rd Quarter. I’m sure we all remember how that worked out.

Take care, stay safe, stay home and stay strong.

Physically distant but socially engaged,
~MB