Learning is never easy, and sometimes it can be quite unpleasant. We go through periods of our life that feel like one long workbook page that we can’t ever turn over. And as baby boomers and beyond, we’re apt to be a bit weary of learning new things.

Do we really want to know how to operate that latest gadget? Can’t we just send a word document without mastering a client’s internal dashboard? Why are there so many buttons in our cars that we can’t figure out how to turn off the bright lights?

In other words, haven’t we earned the right to be turtles?

To just pull in ourselves when things get too complicated and stay inside our shell, and let the world go on around us…assuming if something really interesting or important comes up, someone will tell us.

Well we can. But it’s not healthy. Sitting is supposed to be the new smoking. Sitting still too much just makes our whole body feel heavy, lethargic, and stiff. Sitting still means we aren’t exercising our brains, not reading new books and articles that could enrich our lives, and not considering there might actually be a new and better way to do something.

And more often than not, our sitting still means we’re burdening someone else unfairly. We’re too lazy to even try to read the owner’s manual, we just let someone else figure it out for us. We don’t take the time to go on a website and read about all the new phone options, we just ask our younger relatives to go with us to buy one. Getting advice is great. Giving up isn’t.

Hey, we’ve earned our right to take it easy, and even opt out of some things in this new world. But if we want to really be alive, if we want to stay as healthy physically and mentally as we can, we have to stay engaged and connected to what is going on. We have to keep moving. We have to keep learning. We have to keep participating.

Research confirms that over the years, our brains continue to change, building pathways and becoming more adept at seeing the “big picture”—in many cases, able to arrive at solutions faster than younger counterparts.

Research also shows that it’s really the “stretching” of the mind that holds the real value.  For example, debating familiar concepts with others.  Tackling a problem from a different angle.  Or even just altering your routine by walking a new path, playing the piano with only your less-dominant hand, or conversing in a foreign language.

And what is the pandemic teaching us? It’s different for every person. For some, it’s how much they really need other people. Others have realized how important it is to get out each day and do something productive. Many boomers are rediscovering hobbies or trying new ones. Re-reading the classics. Writing that song or memoir.

Maybe most importantly, many of us are really learning patience. Cooperation. Acceptance. Understanding. How to slow down, without becoming a turtle.

We really are all in this together. But that also means we each have to take care of our physical and mental health as best we can. And cut each other a break. Especially those who are ill, worrying about someone who is ill, or taking care of someone who is ill.

It could be us.

Let’s keep moving, keep helping, keep looking forward. Don’t hide in that shell. Get out and rock that wrinkle like your life depends on it…because it just might!

Like many people, I’m not feeling as mentally stimulated as I’d like. I haven’t been able to be in the physical presence of several people who challenge me, amuse me, or simply share their life story with me. I’m still working, I’m interacting with many intelligent and interesting people, but it’s all from a distance.

I’m running out of fun things to do with salmon and new ways to pep up rice. Routine, which can be a friend sometimes, is becoming a boring taskmaster. I want to talk to friends, but when I do, I don’t feel like I have anything interesting to say. There’s only one time when the words come fast and strong:

When I see someone without a mask in public.

My problem? Maybe. But it’s not just my problem. It’s the problem of anyone that person comes into contact with. Yes, there are some for who medical reasons cannot wear masks. But they are not the majority. I will never understand why this had to become a badge of stubborn pride…to be so cavalier with other people’s lives. You wouldn’t walk around with a cobra on your head, ready to pounce, would you?

Then why won’t you put on a mask?

I know there are people who don’t think this virus is a big deal. I’d like to introduce them to those who’ve spent 4 weeks on a ventilator and have to learn to walk again. Or those who have lost a parent or spouse with no warning. All ages, all physical types, all levels of health and fitness. If you could do something to prevent that, wouldn’t you?

I know this isn’t a fun topic. My apologies, at the moment, it’s the best I can do. We boomers and beyond have a well-earned wisdom. Let’s use it. What a gift to help another person stay safe. We’re asking younger people to do it for us, so let’s do it for one another.

So much angst, so much anger, so much pride…it’s all meaningless at some point. I sincerely wish you, your family and loved ones, and your friends good health and well-being. I guess I just also wish that everyone would just, for the next month at least, do something that could save a life.

Seriously, how often do you get to do that??

“Never doubt that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed, that’s all who ever have.” Margaret Meade

“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” Fred Rogers

It could be our finest hour…when we respond to the sadness, fear and unpredictability of what is happening in the world right now with love, patience and kindness.

Or, it can be a time of paranoia, anger and lack of concern for others.

Amazing what a virus can do. Take a world full of people and turn them upside down. Laugh in the face of our superior technology, mega-malls and endless gluttony. Remind us we aren’t in charge of anything. Render us helpless.

Maybe Nature has had enough of floating garbage in the oceans, rolled-back air pollution standards, drilling on sacred indigenous lands, and the cavalier attitude so many take towards natural resources.

Have you heard….the earth is actually flourishing without us stomping all over it these days. I’m not surprised.

A little less violence and narcissism would do wonders for us all. I for one am a little tired of being reminded about how “great” things were.

There’s never been anything “great” about acting as though only we matter. There’s nothing “great” about arrogance, ignorance and lack of empathy. There’s certainly nothing “great” about ignoring science, facts and the truth, and creating a false reality that serves only your desires.

Quite frankly, it’s stupid. Destructive. Dangerous. (Yes, that’s a personal opinion. This is a blog. If you disagree, you can write your own.)

Generations around the world have been through tough challenges before. Wars, poverty, disease, persecution. Nuclear weapons. Airliners hitting skyscrapers. Concentration camps and mass graves. Always, the world did its best afterward to rebuild, heal, and rethink a new future.

We could do that. We could reach inside and find the strength and spirit to help pull us through the darkness. We could explore new sources of energy. New ways of doing business. New approaches to health and wellness. We could wear our masks in public and respect one another.

But it’s going to take patience—and working together.

So maybe you can’t go to the movies for a while. That haircut might have to wait. Really wanted to go to the lake this summer? Well, maybe next time.

Why? Because maybe doing those things could cause someone else to die. And maybe doing those things could cause you to die.

Staying home is hard. But isn’t knowing so many people are dying hard?

It’s time to be smarter. More patient. More loving. Turn off the propaganda and listen to the doctors. The nurses who are working 24 hour shifts. The researchers who are cautioning everyone to be careful.

I just don’t understand how anything else could be more important than coming together as one to solve this crisis, instead of spreading false emails about which country or culture is to blame for everything. Supporting divisive arguments that ultimately devastate those struggling to find food or pay their rent. Or using the oval office to tweet raging messages filled with insults like a four-year-old on a playground.

Our nation needs a national day of mourning, healing, reflection. It does not need an egomaniac spewing hostility and bragging about good ratings.

In the midst of the terrifying death counts, there is something to be grateful for. And for me, that would be everyone who is on the front lines of this crisis. Those who raise, grow, stock, deliver and sell food. Emergency responders, police, firefighters, EMTs, ambulance drivers, bus drivers, delivery people, doctors, nurses, and anyone else putting on a mask and going to work to help others.

I’m grateful for Dr. Tony Fauci for tirelessly contributing intelligence and reality. For Dr. Sanjay Gupta, always ready to offer information and guidance. For New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for his honesty, compassion and common sense and his willingness to stand firm in the midst of the noise. I also am grateful for experienced, ethical, hard-working, and responsible journalists who endure gaseous and unseemly insults regularly from an empty suit.

These times are hard. It’s okay to be exhausted, sad, frustrated and even desperate at times. It’s also okay to find moments of joy during the day. Laugh at a joke. Tease a friend online about her unruly hair.

But I confess I do not understand how anyone can think it’s okay to incite violence over the freedom to go bowling when so many are fighting for their lives.

One day, our scientists and physicians will find a way through this for all of us. Let’s hope we emerge as better people, in a cleaner world, with a lot more empathy for each other—especially those who aren’t carbon copies of us.

Isn’t that what those who claim to follow a higher power are called to do?

“We rise by lifting others.” Robert Ingersol

“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln

“It is amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.” Harry S Truman