I wish that I could write a message to everyone that would
be full of flowery and optimistic verses, based on a world that has seemed to
come to its senses. What I have witnessed in the past year, and within my own
make up, at being a realist, throws cold water on those thoughts and we are a
very troubled world indeed. But I refuse to be defeated and my only salvation
comes in thoughts about how people have overcome adversity before-- but then I
think it was only because they were committed and really wanted it to happen.
My hope-- my prayer--is that we will want it bad enough too. I firmly believe
that adversity shows us what we are really made of and that the tools for
change are inherent in each of us. Like building a house however, those tools
are useless-- unless we pick them up and use them.
Over the past years I have written several columns dealing
with the shortcomings and inequities that plague this nation and several times
I have been criticized for being overly pessimistic. It was never my intent to
bring doom and gloom to the forefront but rather just a challenge, to say this
is the way it is and why don’t we do something about it. To those who “poo paw”
this rhetoric and prefer to go on with their heads in the sand. To those who
are so blinded by their political parties teachings, that the truth gets buried
in the sand-- right along side of their head-- your not doing anyone any
favors. Please, let’s have an open mind.
The real answers will not come from Washington and we shouldn’t
wait for that. Washington is owned and manipulated by outside interests that
have only their own self-interests in mind. Until the day comes that we see
people there defy the outside interests and become there own people, interested
in serving those they represent back home, they cannot and should not be
trusted. But rather change needs to come from each of us and if the tail needs
to wag the dog then so be it. They will get the point soon enough. “No pain, no
gain,” however should be our mantra because we cannot undo, what has been done
to our country without, a lot of pain. Like pulling a rotten tooth it leaves a
hole and discomfort but gradually it will heal and we can go forward again.
The start of a New Year may only be symbolic in nature but
it is a start. We can’t undo the past but we can cover it up with enough good
things, that hopefully it will only be remembered for what it was-- mostly a
bad idea. We have over the years had many significant days to remember. Dec. 7th
1941, July 20th 1969, Sept 11th 2001 to name a few. Some
of them good, some of them bad, but all of them a day to remember. Lets make
Jan 1st 2015 a significant day too.
We have some very stormy weather on the horizon but we have
proved we can weather storms before. Haruki Murakami said about adversity and I
Quote. “And once the storm is over you
won’t remember how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the
storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm,
you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all
about.”
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