Change is Coming

When you’re a kid it feels like nothing will ever change. As adults, we know that isn’t the case. Change happens constantly but we’re usually just too stinkin’ busy to notice– until we pull out the wedding album and count the number of relatives that have gone on to Glory or revisit the home of our childhood and find that all the buildings shrank and linked elbows in our absence.

But this coming year feels different– I’m not talking gradual, as-the-seasons-drift-slowly-by change. I’m thinking big-time, nothing’s-going-to-be-quite-the-same change.

Over the next few days, I’m planning a few brief posts for the start of 2008.  Some are just Life in General musings of an old(er) lady. Some are wildly off-topic.  Hope you’ll bear with me

Spider Senses Tingling…

I’m certainly no prognosticator, nor do I follow the news (much), or politics or anything else. Gave it up long ago in favor of peace of mind. So, in a take-it-for-what-its-worth kinda way, here’s my very brief REI assessment for 2008.

The mortgage crisis is just a symptom of a much bigger problem. I think it will eventually bring change of massive proportions– nothing less than a redistribution of wealth on a grand scale, unseen since the Great Depression. Someone’s going to step into the vacuum and buy up the inventory at a steep discount. Think Jimmy Stewart and Henry Potter battling it out during the bank scare in “Its a Wonderful Life.”  Will it be good people–honest and fair with a strong desire to provide for family and community?

Or the Henry Potter’s of this world?

Those  prepared will have an opportunity to acquire the means to protect and provide for their family’s financial future for generations to come. Others are going to learn what it means to start over and do without. On a cosmic scale, maybe that’s not such a bad thing, but I’d rather learn my lessons during times of plenty, thanks anyway, and be prepared to move forward when opportunities present.

I know a lot of folks who are worried about the coming year… about the mortgage crisis and the elections and the economy. I just can’t share in their  trepidation. With everything in me, I believe 2008 is a year of opportunity, not loss. I believe that even if you did lose everything you own in this world, this year can be a year of turn-around and change… a year of looking forward with hope. A year you’ll eventually look back on and remember as *the* year.  A year of finding solid ground under all this shaky quicksand we’ve been traversing over for way too long. A pivotal year.

A Wonderful Year.

And Now For Something Completely Different

 We need Men in 2008.

We’ve suffered under a shortage of Authentic Men for way too long. We desperately need good men, kind men. Men who are strong and brave. Men who protect the weak and look out for others around them. Men who place their families above themselves. Who take their responsibilities seriously and chose to sacrifice for the good of others.

We need heros and lots ‘em. We need them everyday… men who chose to live heroic lives whether or not anyone notices. We need men who know what it is to be men– to protect, to serve, to love and care. We ladies have been burning our bras and finding ourselves for several decades now. It’s time for Men to do the same.

There’s nothing wrong with being masculine, flexing your muscles and changing an old lady’s tire once in awhile. We need men to be strong and of good courage, for who knows if you were born for such a time as this?

Think:

He’s Such a Character!

2008 is the year to reclaim your good name. To recognize that good character is an asset that pays dividends, just like a well-stocked portfolio or a rent house that churns out positive cashflow.  I challenge you to look for opportunities to prove you can be trusted. There’s an old-fashioned phrase sadly missing from conversations these days. A phrase that needs to return with a vengence.  

“I Gave My Word”

Think:

(… I’m going to be hearing about this, I’m sure… ) 

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