A Risk Worth Taking FOOD FOR THOUGHT (BY ROSLYN ROZBRUCH)
Years ago, I read an article in the newspaper about a couple who moved out of California for fear of dying in an earthquake, then they were killed in a tornado in the state they moved to. Everything in life is a risk. No matter how careful you want to be, or how much you try to avoid bad things happening, there’s a risk in every decision you make. Even sitting in your home isn’t going to keep you 100% safe because let’s face it, a home intruder, or, in the case of that couple who moved, a natural disaster can get you too. When it comes to risk, we all have different comfort levels of what we’re willing to accept. Sometimes it isn’t even how chancy something is — it’s more like how risky is the action I want to take feel to me? To be more specific, traveling for many has become riskier now than before the pandemic. Some people are afraid to travel for fear of getting COVID-19. Or maybe they’re okay to drive somewhere but not fly. For me, I don’t mind getting on an airplane, but I’m not ready to book a cruise just yet. This past September, I decided to visit my Uncle Norman in Hawaii. Michael, our daughter Erica, and her husband Ramsey joined me on the adventure. My uncle moved to Oahu over 20 years ago, and I like to visit him every couple of years. September 2020 was the year to do it. I booked the flights and rooms, and in the end, I had to cancel it all. It wasn’t so much that I was afraid to travel as it was that I didn’t want to pass on any cooties and be the family member to get Uncle Norman sick! Besides, it was moot, as Hawaii was pretty much shut down — even the hotels were closed for business. So, I waited.
Then vaccines came, people started getting them, the numbers of COVID-19 dropped, hotels opened, and I booked my trip to trip to Oahu once again to visit right after our Tax Resolution Success Summit in September 2021. But COVID-19 numbers started spiking in Hawaii, so the governor went on TV and said not to travel there. Uncle Norman called to say his friend’s family that came in for a funeral had their flight canceled, and it took them almost a week to get off the island. People started texting me, “Hawaii is shut down, what are you going to do?” I knew that wasn’t true because there’s an app you have to download with all the rules listed to visit any of the islands. It’s very specific. After the governor spoke, my app did not flash and say, “Sorry, stay home.” I understood the governor’s, my friends, and my uncle’s concerns, but I also decided we were still going because visiting my uncle was a risk worth taking. All four of us have been to Hawaii many times, and we weren’t planning on doing anything touristy other than spend a lot of time on the beach and go out to dinner with Uncle Norman. We all felt we could travel there and stay safe. Besides, if I was going to visit, it was going to be while my uncle was alive. Not that there’s anything wrong with his health — he’s like a combination of how Dick Clark was, never aging, and how Alan Arkin is, fit and funny (although Arkin is a little older than my uncle). The risk I didn’t want to take was that maybe a tsunami might wash him away, like the tornado did to that couple. And guess what? We had a great time, and it was nice to spend time with Uncle Norman.
Ramsey, Roslyn, Michael, Uncle Norman, and Erica at Royal Hawaiian Resort, Waikiki
So, here’s my thought for you. When it comes to making a decision and it’s something you want to do, but seems too risky in the moment, reassess it and see if you can do it another time. In my case, I knew it wasn’t a good idea to fly to Hawaii in 2020, but a year later, I felt better prepared and that it was worth taking a chance to go, even though others were skeptical. Sometimes the risk you don’t want to take now might be fine to do later. Sometimes it isn’t even how chancy something is — it’s more like how risky is the action I want to take feel to me?
Timing is everything, don’t be so quick to let your dreams go, whatever they are.
–Roslyn Rozbruch
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