Feeling Discouraged, Restless, Fed Up? Good for You!!

Like most of the rest of the country and much of the world, I listened to Barack Obama take the oath of office as our 44th President and address the nation yesterday. And yes, I was moved. The mess we have made of our planet, our economy, our educational and health delivery systems, and our way of relating to our global neighbors has seemed beyond repair to me. I have felt disheartened and alienated from much of the human race on account of these issues.

For any one man, even one backed by the power of the United States government, to stand up before the rest of us and pledge to give his all toward righting these ills got my attention. A little flicker of hope stirred inside me and, along with the hope, the desire to quit bitchin' and pitch in instead to do what I can to make things better.

Let me state one thing clearly: It is not inappropriate or neurotic to feel depressed or angry when your life sucks.

I wish the makers of Prozac and its littermates would get this message out to the public, and I wish our diplomats would apply this principle to their dealings with impoverished peoples and nations. What is inappropriate, though all too easy to do, is to give up. That is the wake-up call I received as I listened to President Obama's Inaugural Address yesterday.

And what better time for our nation to awaken than now, with its back against the wall, its narcissistic delusions of grandeur shattered, its fat cats exposed for the predators they are, and the specter of want a guest at many family tables? Historically, it is precisely at such times, when there seems less to lose and more to gain, that people are willing to face their fear of change and take up the challenge of creating a better life for themselves.

With a strong positive leader pointing the way and conscious citizens awakened from their "money zombie" shuffle, perhaps we will collectively be able to discern the way forward that is right for all of us passengers on "Spaceship Earth."