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Posts Tagged ‘Obama’

End of the Year- Not the End of Days

Posted in Influences, tagged on December 31, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Caught In TimeLast day of yet another year…

I don’t want to drone on about this past year.  There are enough blogs out there doing that today and tomorrow, citing personal triumphs and failures.  Putting up their personal top ten lists of things like movies and music.  But even the most jaded and contrarian of us can’t deny it was a remarkable year in many ways, both good and bad.  

The rise of Obama and the return of the disenfranchised voter.  The virtual collapse of the world economy.   These first couple of things are so big that they seem to dwarf all other events, mainly because they signify a much different future in 2009 with wildly different expectations than those we brought with us as we entered this past  year.  2008 was a game-changer.

2008 will be the year that will be remembered in historical terms  but 2009 is really the more important year because that is when our reaction to the events of the past year start to take shape.  And how one reacts to the hardships that rise before them defines them, shows their true character and potential.  

To me, that is truly exciting.  It is an opportunity to be better and to do better.  A time to discover strengths that we thought we lacked.  A time to find and nourish a future we hadn’t even considered before this time.

Okay, it is scary.  So what?  The world is changing before our eyes and change is always filled with fear.  But if  we look at this as an opportunity perhaps those fears will recede and we will move into the future with eyes wide open and see everything available to us. 

And overcome and be better for it.

So, to 2009, I say, “Bring it on.”

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A Day of History

Posted in Favorite Things, Quote, tagged , , on November 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

barack-hope-poster1   There are very few days in our lives when we realize that there is history of great magnitude occurring before our very eyes.  It is awe-inspiring to see the throngs of voters converging on the polls with steely-eyed determination, willing to stand hours so that history will not be denied.  I’m sure each has their own individual motivation but most simply desire a change in our leadership that insures and affirms the fairness and promise of  possibility in our country.

You see, the magic of America has always been about possibility.

Eugene Robinson wrote a wonderful article in  today’s Washington Post that speaks of this:

“For African Americans, at least those of us old enough to have lived through the civil rights movement, this is nothing short of mind-blowing. It’s disorienting, and it makes me see this nation in a different light.

You see, I remember a time of separate and unequal schools, restrooms and water fountains — a time when black people were officially second-class citizens. I remember moments when African Americans were hopeful and excited about the political process, and I remember other moments when most of us were depressed and disillusioned. But I can’t think of a single moment, before this year, when I thought it was within the realm of remote possibility that a black man could be nominated for president by one of the major parties — let alone that he would go into Election Day with a better-than-even chance of winning.

Let me clarify: It’s not that I would have calculated the odds of an African American being elected president and concluded that this was unlikely; it’s that I wouldn’t even have thought about such a thing.”

One new possibility becoming reality opens a door to an open and endless plain of possibility.  And that is all we ask–for a door to open.  Get out there and stand in line.  Vote.

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