Optimism Rocks!

Tomorrow is a new year and a new decade. Yes, I know that technically the next decade doesn't start until 2011, but who really cares? It's all about the second digit from the right, isn't it? When we speak of the 50s and 60s, those decades started with the 5's and the 6's. And even though we have three years to go until 2013, I say we're done with the zeroes and entering the teens, and what a great time that will be, if we choose to make it so.

But it's going to take work. Even the die hard Obama supporters are beginning to see that just electing the man you've put so much hope into isn't going to fix everything. I see some people are trying to write savior into Sarah Palin now, and that's no better. What matters is us: what we do; how well we do it; how soon we recognize the wrong course and set off on the right one; how resolute we are in sticking to the right one even when the going gets tough.

We have some changes to make. I have some changes to make. In my case it's not so much knowing what to do as it is in making myself do it. Like an overweight man who finally hits on a sustainable diet plan, for me it isn't a matter of eliminating things from my life so much as practising portion control. I need to do more that is good for me, spend more time with those things that enrich my soul and the lives of those around me. And I need to do less of that which is merely fun, or even just empty distraction from boredom.

I find that too often I wait for things that do not happen, and that wouldn't be all that great if they did. I know where I am, and I know where I want to go from here. To get there, I'll have to walk fast and travel light. I'll still take time to stop and smell the roses, just not as many of them. And those that I do smell will be fine roses indeed.

The next year? The next decade? Gonna be some rough sledding, I think. But we're going to make it to the bottom of the hill intact. And once we do, I'm optimistic that we're going to want to climb back to the top and do it again.

Optimism rocks!

A blessed and happy New Year to all of you!