Last year, for their anniversary, I took my daughter and son-in-law out for dinner to any restaurant they picked. They wanted to try out a trendy new place on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and so we did. Everything, and I mean everything, about the place was a stretch for me. I don’t love sitting on what I believe are called bar tables. (Leaning down to get something from my backpack on the ground was perilous from that height.) The decibel level was high, given all the hard surfaces, which make the place look more ‘with it’. The menu, which I reviewed recently, seems to have more familiar items now than a year ago, when I struggled to find some things that looked appealing. I can’t remember what I ordered but I don’t remember leaving hungry.

The point of this narrative, however, is that the experience did put me out of my comfort zone and I consider that a very good thing to do periodically, for anyone but especially if you’re a senior citizen. You, hopefully, become more flexible and resilient and those seem like admirable traits to have in these challenging times. So, to everyone, I encourage you to try something totally different from your normal taste or interest–a new restaurant, a different type of play or movie, a gallery or museum show with art you would otherwise never see, a visit to a different part of town. I think you’ll find that it’s all pretty exhilarating. It should be noted, however, that I didn’t push all boundaries. For instance, I didn’t eat the tripe or goat shoulder on the menu.