DEAR HARRIETTE: New York City will be closing indoor-dining restaurants and will be allowing only takeout orders and outdoor dining. It is now winter; outdoor dining is not really something that I imagine people will still want to do, unless they go to places that have heated patios.

Unfortunately, a lot of smaller businesses are afraid that they may face having to go out of business. What are your viewpoints on the pandemic and small businesses this winter? How do you think they will be affected? Do you believe landlords will cut business owners some slack due to the pandemic? I’m thinking about all of my favorite mom-and-pop shops that I know I will be trying to support this winter as much as I can because I do not want them to go away. -- Make It Through the Winter

DEAR MAKE IT THROUGH THE WINTER: The pandemic has dramatically and negatively impacted many small businesses, especially restaurants. This is true in New York City and beyond. The good news is that there is light on the horizon if vaccines reach enough people and have a positive impact.

Yet not all businesses will be able to hold on. What I hope is that landlords and small businesses will get creative and work together to ride this out. Of course, not all will do this -- but the alternative seems particularly grim. When landlords evict tenants today, it’s not so easy to find a replacement. Thousands of small businesses are suffering. So, ideally folks on both sides will work together toward a realistic outcome for all. Sadly, not all businesses will survive. We have already lost hundreds of thousands of businesses across our great country. Those who can get creative along with those who have deeper pockets may be poised to survive.

As consumers, we can do our part by frequenting as many of our favorite businesses as we can during these unprecedented times.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I keep in touch with my first ex-boyfriend. We have both gone on to build families and have great lives. Recently, he asked me to be a guest speaker at one of his classes, and I’m excited to do it. I’m wondering how I should identify myself. We are middle-aged people who have known each other for almost our whole lives, but he also holds a very special place in my heart because he was my first love. His class is a group of high schoolers, the same age we were when we dated. Am I traveling too far down memory lane to want to bring this up when I meet his class? Should I just keep it professional? What is appropriate? -- Who Am I?

DEAR WHO AM I?: Why not take your friend’s lead? Let him introduce you to his students and state who you are and your relationship to him. When you speak, you can say that you two have been friends since high school, but don’t go into the romantic side of it. Stay professional. Stay focused on the lesson that you are imparting. You can add that it is important to maintain relationships over the years with the people you value. You two are a perfect example of that.

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR READERS: Happy New Year! Can you believe that we have crossed from the year 2020 into 2021? For many of us, 2020 was rough. From health challenges due to COVID-19 to political, economic and social unrest, we have been through it. Even for people who have found success during these intense times, it has often seemed overwhelming.

And now we have turned the page. We have the opportunity to reset and to claim what we want for this new year. We can choose the way forward for ourselves if we pay attention and take the right action.

The very notion that we can have some control over our destiny is empowering to me. I have been thinking about a concept that people talk about a lot -- embracing your superpower. Thanks to the rise in superhero comics and movies, we can envision ourselves as beings with the ability to move mountains, change thoughts and even save the world.

What is your superpower? What ability do you have to transform your life and make 2021 a better world for yourself and others? Great questions, huh? Rather than fretting over a New Year’s resolution that you may or may not keep, think about a personal superpower that you can cultivate and grow.

I want to recommend the superpower of embracing stillness. Not what you expected, huh? Think about it. If you take the time every day to sit quietly and listen to the voice inside, chances are, you will be able to tap into your own wisdom. Stillness makes space for your inner intelligence to emerge and show you the way for your life. It doesn’t cost anything other than your time and commitment.

I used to watch my grandmother, Carrie Freeland, who lived to be 101 years old, sit quietly in meditation every day. She would go into her room and sit in her beautiful old wooden rocking chair. She wrapped herself in a soft blanket and closed her eyes. There she sat, sometimes for more than an hour, gently rocking, seemingly transported somewhere else. I would walk in occasionally during this quiet time and try to get her attention, but she did not open her eyes until she was ready. When I asked what she was doing, she answered that she was listening to God. It took many years for me to grasp what that meant. I now know that during that time of stillness, and only then, can we commune with God, with that energy that is greater than ourselves but that dwells within each one of us. How powerful!

Here’s how you can do it: Get up a few minutes early each day. Sit quietly in an area where you will not be disturbed. Choose a special room or even go into your bathroom for a few minutes and close the door. Sit up straight, shoulders back and relaxed. Eyes closed. Take three deep cleansing breaths. Imagine with each inhalation that you are breathing in greatness. With each exhalation, you are releasing tension and discomfort. After three deep breaths, return to your natural breathing. With closed eyes, watch the natural flow of your breath. Notice the thoughts that come and go. Allow them to pass, trusting that whatever message is there for you will show its face. Mediate quietly for a few minutes. Then write down whatever came up for you. Look at your journal each day, and track the messages from within. If you commit to this simple daily meditation, you will begin to notice messages that can guide your life. I receive messages about physical fitness, family and work. Pay attention to learn what your messages are. Follow them, nurture them and watch your resolutions manifest. Here’s to an amazing year!

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a gardener who I have been using for many years. He’s gotten much older, and I’ve noticed that his work isn’t as good as it used to be. He tends to show up late and leave early; he reschedules and cancels a lot; sometimes he forgets to come by at all. The grass is cut unevenly, and he leaves a chopped grass trail on the lawn. It doesn’t look like he is trimming my hedges at all. I’ve asked him to bring extra help to get the work done; he says he will, but he shows up alone, saying the guys weren’t able to come in to work. I get the feeling that his health is not great and his business is slowing down, which is why he doesn’t bring other workers anymore.

It feels like I’m wasting money because my yard doesn’t look like I have a gardener. I want to hire someone else, but I am stuck as to how I am going to fire him. Any tips on how to let him go? -- Goodbye Old Gardener

DEAR GOODBYE OLD GARDENER: Ask your gardener to meet with you. Thank him for his many years of service to your garden. Offer him a small token gift, along with a check or cash, as a thank-you for helping you for so many years. Tell him that you no longer will be needing him to work for you, but you want him to know how much you appreciate his dedication to your lawn. If he says he wants to continue to come, gently let him know that you will not be hiring him in the new year.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My daughter suffers from depression. Quarantine has been difficult for her; she misses school and her friends and hates being stuck in a room all the time. Before, I could tell when she was having down days because she would come home and go straight to her room. On up days, she would come home, stop in the kitchen and do homework in the den around the family, and she would be present. With her home all the time and needing privacy to do virtual school, I can’t tell what kind of day she is having, and it’s not like teenagers are going to tell us.

I can’t read her anymore; everything is so different. She keeps her door locked, and I’ve asked her not to, but that hasn’t changed. She’s tried to hurt herself in the past, so I don’t like her door being locked. I want to take her door off the hinges until she returns to school. I am much more concerned with her safety than her privacy, but I don’t want her to resent me either. What kind of changes can we make together so I know she’s doing well? Is taking the door off the hinges too drastic? -- Quarantine Depression

DEAR QUARANTINE DEPRESSION: Speak to your daughter’s psychiatrist to ask for specific coping mechanisms to use. Do not take her door. You may want to install a small surveillance camera just to be able to check on her safety. Also, establish a daily check-in time when you and your daughter talk.

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)