A year ago we were all hunkered down, our lives shut off from places and each other. It was an incredibly stressful time as we bathed our hands in sanitizer and strategized the safest plan to buy groceries.

Those first few months were exhausting as our brains consumed more than its usual amount of energy just navigating basic survival techniques.

• How to lead your team virtually?

• How to work from home while helping kids navigate Zoom school?

• How to decide which risks are worth taking?

Fortunately, our worlds are reopening to the familiar. Students are largely back inside school buildings, some employees are returning to their place of work, and restaurants are seating indoors.

Then why are many people feeling a new stress in the middle of this good news?

Why is there a new level of fatigue along with relief?

Why are our brains on overdrive again?

It’s because we’re navigating uncharted waters with more questions than there are answers.

• Do you return to the office knowing that not everyone has been vaccinated?

• Do you require your team to be on site?

• Do you let your 10-year-old child play at the unvaccinated friend’s house?

We’re feeling our way through this post-pandemic era. We’re constantly making new decisions. We’re answering questions that didn’t exist fifteen months ago.

So, while we (in the West) celebrate our high rates of vaccinations, we need to be kind to ourselves and each other as we figure out next steps.

Not everyone is equally comfortable eating indoors at a restaurant.

Not everyone is equally comfortable taking public transportation or flying.

Not everyone is equally comfortable going back to the workplace.

Be kind to others.

Be kind to yourself.

Compassion is the bottom line, as always.