I could hardly wait for my planned trip to London. I would stay with my two sons, who are both living and working there. During the week I would attend my first London Book Fair.

On the weekend we would go to a lovely cottage in the Cotswold. Here we would walk and wander in the trees together. I could picture it.

A few days before take-off, the world changed. The Covid-19 virus spread its pointy tentacles into the news and lungs of more and more people.

I did not want to buy into the fear mindset.

But I have systemic lupus, a weakened immune system, and am vulnerable to infection.

Still I wanted to go and see my kids.

But should I stay home?

I went back to Harvard’s social psychologist Ellen Langer’s key life changing questions. (Chapter 18 of Take Back Your Outside Mindset). I asked myself:

Is it true?
Yes. There is a global virus.

Do I need to panick?
Jeez I hope not. I am so done with that response.

How do I know things will turn out this way?
I don’t know if I will get sick if I go.

Still I was getting more fearful and worrying more.

My kids updated me. London shut down offices at Google, Facebook, and within The Financial sector. The London Book cancelled. We worried.

Langer (and p 112 of my book) says the antidote to worry, fear, anger and confusion seems to lie in these 4 questions.

I ran the decision I least wanted to take through her questions below. What if I stayed home?

How is this a good thing?

If I stay home, we won’t worry about my getting sick. Everyone in the family can relax. We can all still get outside where we live. I can enjoy spring cross country skiing with friends here.

For the world, individuals and corporations were moving all meetings online. This will replace a lot of travel. This will reduce air pollution. This will help our planet.

Crowded places are now high risk. Outside near trees is not.

How is this a bad thing?

I won’t get to be with my kids.

The expensive ticket in not refundable or transferrable, since I went for the best deal.

Is this a tragedy or an inconvenience?

I guess it is an inconvenience. Not a tragedy for me. I am feeling healthy. My kids are healthy.

According to Langer these above questions and the one below create our beliefs. Beliefs create our mindset. She says our beliefs are the only things that matter. Langer says:

“Our mindset (our beliefs) that orient the way we sort out what is going on in our lives and what we should do about it. ”

Through years of research Langer has figured out how to get better results in life.

I used her questions to slightly shift my mindset. And as she predicts:

“what our mind believes, our bodies deliver.”

So I used Langer’s questions to figure out how to handle the cancellation of my trip.

She has one other question that I use:

If the worst happens, what are the opportunities? 

The opportunity is that we know where it is safe and healthy to go: outside!

Stanford’s Gregory Bratman’s work says when we are close to trees our fearful spinning thoughts, confusion, and disappointment go away.

Harvard’s Langer ‘s questions shows how to shift our perspective. We can say to one another “I don’t know and you don’t know how things will turn out — so let’s help each other.”

Public crowding is now an identified health risk. So we will look for more opportunities to get outside.

We know that botanist, chemist, author, Diana Beresford-Kroeger says:

“the atmosphere around trees may be the most powerful medication we have access to, yet most of us are completely unaware of it.”

She says trees cannot run away from danger. They must defend themselves in place. So they produce tiny protective molecules to predators (insects, birds) away.

These invisible molecules are antiviral. They are also antiseptic, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory. A universal miracle drug. Free to all.

So after you wash your hands, get outside, and find a tree. Breathe in through your nose. This way the goodness goes straight through your blood brain barrier to your brain.

Make trees your personal antiviral strategy.

And keep inviting others to do the same.