A New Year

As I write this, the year 2008 has less than 2 hours left before it dies of old age. Many of us will probably be glad to see it go. But in spite of the heartaches, the pains, the disappointments, the fact remains that we made it here.....we are about to embark on a new year. With all of its faults, 2008 was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrance, never to be seen again. And much of what happened to us during that year were things that we might have changed or done in a different and better way. Likewise the new, not yet born 2009 will be, to a great extent, what we make of it.

I am not stupid enough (well, I guess I AM that stupid, but nevertheless....) to think that all that happens to us is under our control, but even when fate, or chance, or luck, throws us a curve, how we handle it IS under our control. And we can make a choice as to how we handle that bad break...either it beats us or we beat it. Of that we do have control. I'm sure that all of you reading this (all 3 of us) can think of someone we have known who seems almost to thrive on bad happenings. Every piece of bad news is embraced as a reason to bemoan the fates, to cry and sigh, to toss in the towel and sink into a funk. And I suspect we also know of people who can't seem to stay down, who get it on the chin over and over again by the breaks in life and yet are still upbeat, are happy, are optimistic and eager to get on with life. Think about it for a moment. Who do we enjoy being around? Who do we remember long after they are no longer here? Who do we wish we could be like? The person who is gutsy enough to take what life gives and work with it somehow is the one we admire and want to emulate.

And now with the birth of a new year, we can do that. For those who believe in New Year's resolutions, what better resolution than one to try and work for that goal of personal courage and strength in the face of hard times? I'm certainly no prophet or soothsayer, but I guess that there are some serious hard times ahead for us. But that doesn't mean that all is lost. It means that there will be a need for strong people, people who can "suck it up and get on with life" even when things are rough going. One step, then another.....one obstacle overcome and then another, and always with a smile and the inner peace that comes from the belief in what we are and what we can and should be. Hard times sometimes are needed to help us to see what is worthwhile, what should be preserved and protected, and what is useless fluff to be discarded and not mourned.

Are we up to it?

Am I up to it?

I don't know, but maybe that's why I've been given a new year, to find out if I'm up to the challenge. A new year, fresh and untouched, to be used by me, by each of us, either to strengthen us and better us, or to grind and wear us down. It's there, neither good nor bad; it just is. What we do to it and with it is what is important.

Have a great new year!!!

What Is Really Important

In the crazy world that we live in, it is all too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day skirmishes, which, though important, pale in comparison to what really matters. I will be the first to admit that I can joust with others, and try to defend my beliefs, and probably sometimes go over the line and become a bit of a pain. While not making light of these arguments, nor the differences in beliefs which cause them, I also find that at this time of the year my thoughts drift to a different plane.

On a spiritual level, I once again remember that about 2000 years ago, the Son of God came down to earth as a poor infant. He took on a human nature out of His love for each and every one of us. That thought is so difficult to grasp, so beyond my understanding, and yet I believe it as strongly as I believe that the sun will rise tomorrow morning.

While they were there, the days of her confinement were completed. She gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

There were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch by turns over their flocks. The angel of the Lord appeared to them as the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were very much afraid. The angel said to them:"You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you- tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people. This day in David's city a savior has been born to you, the Messiah and Lord

Now that is something to think about, and to appreciate!!! And it certainly is something to celebrate.

Along those same lines, but on a slightly different level, it also is a time of the year that I find my thoughts turning more often to all those people who have been and/or are a part of my life. From family to friends to people who have been there for me in ways they probably never even realized, people I laugh with and people who have cried with me, people I never really knew but still somehow brightened my life, if even for a moment.......so many people who have left some sort of mark on me and lighted up my day and lightened my load, if even for a moment. What a tremendous gift to have received from so many different people! To all of them and to all of you, collectively and individually, my heartfelt thanks and I wish you all the happiest Christmas.

I hate to say I told you so, but if you look back to when the bail-outs started, I said it was the beginning of the end of our form of government and economy. Since then the government seems to be giving OUR money away to anyone and everyone. But it is really difficult to even conceive how much money we are talking about here.

Perhaps this will put the numbers into some sort of perspective. The government has spent more in the past few months than ALL of those projects combined. It has spent more than ALL the costs of WWII.

The politicians in Washington seem intent on spending until the entire system fails.

Insolent S.O.B.

Sen Harry Reid is so very happy that those dirty, unwashed tourists won't be around to offend his upper-crust sensibilities any more.

Perhaps someone should remind this bas****d that those tourists are the ones who are paying his salary and funding all the billions that he and his compatriots are spending every freaking day they are in Washington. Where does he get off, anyway? He and all the other professional politicians are supposed to be there solely to look out for the good of the country; they are supposed to be public servants. Instead they have become, at least in their own eyes, so much better than us unwashed and sweaty commoners.

Hey Sen. Reid, guess what.......this country became the greatest country in the history of the world because of that sweat. The men and women who sweated as they forged steel, plowed fields, built skyscrapers, planted crops in all sorts of weather, and did the thousands and thousands of other tasks that needed to be done to make themselves and their country better, they are the ones who built this country. It wasn't a bunch of career politicians, sitting on their asses in Washington as they pissed away the common man's tax money, who built up the US of A. And when things got bad and dirty, hard work had to be done, it sure as shooting was NOT the politicians who stepped up to do it. It was one of those sweaty common folks who volunteered to do what had to be done.

This little speech of his does a much better job of explaining and revealing what is wrong with those who think they lead us than any long-winded blog ever could. He and his ilk see themselves as the elite, the first-class, the best of everyone. In fact, it shows me exactly what he really is, and confirms why many of us look at politicians with contempt.

When the brown stuff hits the fan, I know who I want by my side, and it sure as hell would not be Sen Reid who would be standing there complaining about the terrible odor of sweat and the commoners and riff-raff. It would be that riff-raff that would be the one who would be working AND SWEATING to save the day.