Most people who know me well will probably, out of my earshot, tell you that I am a cynic. Some of them will tell you that right in front of my face, of course, particularly if they call themselves blood relatives. [Being adopted, it narrows the field considerably, so they know who they are.] I admit I tend to look at the glass as half empty, because, at least in my experience, that IS being optimistic. The bad stuff in life is life - the good stuff is a pleasant surprise.
But there is a larger life viewpoint, a perspective from which you can only see yourself as the small cog in the celestial wheel that is life on earth. We are, each of us, but a drop in the bucket of life, important to our own family and friends, possibly even important to our employers or our own town or city. If you are Bill Gates or the President of the United States, you might even be important to people world wide in an impersonal sort of way - you impact lives on a daily basis without even knowing the people whom your decisions affect. But still, in the end, when viewed through the lens of the whole cosmos, we are small cogs at most.
Awhile back, I came across a picture taken from space at night. It was, in reality, a series of time lapsed pictures, stitched together. Ultimately, you could see the entire world from the bird's eyed, or space ship eyed, perspective.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html
If you want to know where the developed world ends and the developing world begins, you need only look at our continents from space at night. Europe, the United States, and small parts of the Pacific Rim are lit up brilliantly, clearly defining where you will find most of the life that is being lived within those boundaries. Hawaii is easily found in the middle of the dark Pacific, while Mongolia and Siberia and Tibet and most of the continent of Africa are completely shrouded in darkness.
It is difficult to understand how a continent such as Africa, with its wealth of natural resources, can be so dark, so lonely, so forgotten, while all of Europe glows like a beacon in the night. It would seem that a continent such as Africa would have every opportunity to convert the vast resources they have into a thriving world leadership position, but it has never been so, since trade routes were first established. It has always been a continent which sold its soul, it seems, for a few pieces of silver or some shiny beads, but in the end, they are left with nothing but dictators and poverty.
And yet, for many people in the United States, they are detached from those issues, because it is something on the news - they don't have to confront the reality of the problems in person, face to face. Darfur is the same old story, the Congo is something of a legend, Pakistan and Afghanistan are pictures on television, and Gaza is someone else's problem. We think of these places as a news brief and forget that the people suffering and dying there are still doing so right this minute.
As we enter this new year of 2009, I cannot help but wonder what is ahead for all of us - as a person, a family, a country, and a world.
We in our family are embarking on new adventures on many levels - a new pet, still finding my way in a new job, college graduation and decisions that must be made, deciding where to go after high school - all are personal decisions being made just in our family.
As a country, we are looking at a new presidency, and new people in charge, amidst the current crisis in our economy and an ongoing war. Will they fulfill the many promises they have made on the campaign trail (or even any of them?) Will they be able to bring new enthusiasm to old problems, and perhaps, even if only psychologically, move us in a new direction? What solutions are available that haven't already been tried? How do we put our nation on track - not back on the old track, but on a new track, that will be even more successful and bring us greater satisfaction, both individually and collectively?
Our place in the world is on shaky footing right now, as we battle with both allies and enemies. The political climate both at home and abroad is not satisfied with where we currently find ourselves - will we be able to work together to solve some of the world's problems, or will we continue to be splintered into a million different pieces, each piece with its own agenda?
We are still seeking Osama bin Laden, who, even though functionally irrelevant, is still tactically dangerous for his symbolic successes. We are seeking an end to tyranny on more than one continent. Israel and the Palestinians continue to battle for supremacy in a part of the world where war is the norm, and peace is a long forgotten dream. We are facing poverty in the Sudan and other places in Africa on a level that is unimaginable - 40,000 people a day are dying on the continent of Africa right now, most of them children. The problems we face are not small, and not insignificant. And we will not be exonerated from our failure to address and solve them simply because an ocean separates us.
As you view the world from space, and you see us, not as individuals, but as a whole, we are inextricably linked together in space and time, as inseparable from each other as drops of water in a glass.
Where our economy goes, so too do the economies of the developing world, who are dependent upon our consumption for their success. A dread disease in Africa is but a single plane flight away from a world wide pandemic. War in Gaza threatens the stability of every nation on earth, as Jew is pitted against Muslim, and every country chooses up sides. The children dying in Darfur are cheapening life for all of us, and we will never know how much has been lost to us because of it.
So then, is the point of this post to depress and criticize? No, on the contrary, for the first time in a very long time, I feel like we, as a nation of hard-working compassionate people, are finally ready to face the realities of life, and to dig in and solve the problems we are facing. We are looking at 2009 as a time of retrenching, a time to renew and cut back and start over. Our new year's resolution as a nation may well be that change has come, and it's not fun, but we are ready, and we are going to see this one through.
So, to all the believers out there who join me in hoping for a brighter tomorrow, even in the midst of the hard today, happy new year! I hope, one year from now, I will be able to look back at this moment and know it was the turning point for us as a nation, as well as for me as a person.
I don't usually make new year's resolutions, because it is, in my opinion, a set-up for failure. However, I do like to assess my situation at the beginning of the year, and try to see where I am, and where I wish I would be by the time this year comes to it's close.
At the beginning of 2009, I look ahead with hope and anticipation of what may come, both personally and financially. I am resolved to take the best each day has to offer and to do the most I can with it. I have learned from as many of my past failures and mistakes as I can, and I will try to take that knowledge and use it to do better in the days to come. I will appreciate more and complain less, I will recognize the gifts of each day, and stop worrying about tomorrow so much. Finally, I will try harder to be a better me, so that those who know me will be enriched by my presence on this earth in new ways. I want to be the pearl in the oyster of life, instead of the grain of sand.
I am wishing you and yours all the best that life can offer in the coming year.
