I don’t think it’s any big news to say that 2008 has been rather craptacular, especially the last several months. The economy has tanked, the stock market crashed, people are getting laid off, investments are down by a third.
Beyond that, most people are angry, irritable and depressed. We’re snapping at each other, constantly talking about how bad things are, how lousy they’ll stay, and who’s to blame.
But amidst all this stress, I’m here to spread some good cheer. I see the future I don’t think it’s any big news to say that 2008 has been rather craptacular, especially the last several months. The economy has tanked, the stock market crashed, people are getting laid off, investments are down by a third.
Beyond that, most people are angry, irritable and depressed. We’re snapping at each other, constantly talking about how bad things are, how lousy they’ll stay, and who’s to blame.
But amidst all this stress, I’m here to spread some good cheer. I see the future as being fastic. Indeed, times are tough, and they’re not going away tomorrow. But you know what? Times have been tough before. We’ve been through rough patches–brutal patches–and we made it through. Just in the last decade, we had the Internet bubble. We bounced back from that. We had the 9/11 attacks. We bounced back from that, too. And now we have this mess.
Yes. We will bounce back once again.
I’m not saying it will be quick or easy, but I’d like to encourage everyone to take stock of things you do have, rather than the things you don’t. Be grateful for whatever you can. Your family, your health. Your home, your friends. Your job (if you’ve still got one). The way the sun catches the snow in the morning. The new rotations for the Yankees and Mets (I had to get a baseball reference in there someplace). Dark Knight out on DVD.
Whatever it is that makes you happy, that would really pain you if it were gone … all I’m saying is that maybe it’s worth taking a few extra minutes, even just a few seconds, to think about what that means to you.
I’m not sure when this rough patch will end. A year? two years? Three? More? I don’t know. But I’m confident that if I take my life day by day with the belief that, in the long run, things will get better–as they always do–chances are I’ll have a better, easier time of it today than if I sit around and talk and talk and talk and talk about how bad and unfair it all is.
There’s nothing wrong with venting and sharing our fears, but there’s a fine line between expressing frustration, fear and disappointment, and feeding into our misery. I don’t think too many people are dancing in the streets right now about how good things are. Fair enough.
But that’s why now more than ever I think it’s important to focus on what really does matter to us most, because now, when it’s rough, is when it’s most beneficial to acknowledge the good things we really do have, big and small. Our individual and collective lives are mostly made up of little pieces that we cull together.
I’m willing to bet that if each one of us were to focus on the good, be willing to appreciate what we really do have, that we’ll be on the road to recovery much faster than if we don’t. As my hero Zig Ziglar often says, positive thinking doesn’t automatically bring us anything. But positive thinking will help us do everything better than with negative thinking. Hard to argue with that.
So as we close out 2008, I’m here to say that I see better days ahead. I’m also here to say that I’m grateful for you all, and that your energy, support and feedback has been a big help in keeping me focused and looking toward the future. In these times of struggle, each one of you are in my thoughts. And that, above most all else, makes me smile.
This year may have been craptacular, but I see the future as being faaaaaaan-tastic.
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2008/12/25 11:06
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2009/01/02 18:12
