A New President, a New Era

For many people all over the world, the coming American Presidential Election is the harbinger of change... change from feeling like we're slowly sliding down further and further into the mud. The economic state of the world alone reminds me of Moria in The Neverending Story... sliding deeper and deeper into the mud of depression.

I feel like the question over these long weeks has been "what are you doing to make a change?" and then "why is that the best thing?" Everyone has a different opinion, and everyone seems to be expecting change to come overnight. In January when the next President officially takes office, change won't magically happen... big surprise.

A new administration or president isn't needed for that, a new era isn't needed... what is needed is cooperation and determination. Not erratic, pushy, bitchy determination... but gentle, constant determination that comes from knowing you are taking the right course.

One thing severely lacking in the new global culture is friendliness. Everyone is quick to criticise, quick to disagree or complain or show why something is dumb or won't work or is rubbish... few have the insight to give something a go, wait, and give it time. Quick fixes and immediate results are all that is wanted.

Increasingly, I think, we are seeing how little things over time have a bigger impact than massive things.

Though I don't honestly agree with everything President Bush has gone for, I think the negative energy, the snarkiness, the disrespect showed him has done more harm. Over the past 8 years, things have gotten increasingly bad... the criticism hasn't HELPED him. It hasn't been constructive... it has been looking for him to fail.

I think deep down, so many of us are afraid of failing... that we expect to... then at least we didn't get our hopes up and have them fall crashing down to the grown. We were prepared, we braced ourselves.

Studies show that people who fall out of things in their sleep receive LESS injuries because they don't brace themselves... their bodies are relaxed and moveable. Needles hurt less when poked in a relaxed muscle than a tense one... etc.

But in our fear of failing, we learn to expect everyone to fail at any daunting task. We have lost our hope, but then bitch and complain when those in charge or working for our betterment can't seem to get things right.

We don't have to wait for a new President to begin a new era. A new era can begin by hoping positively for the good to happen... by working for it, not only through our actions, but in our general disposition, by being not only polite, but friendly, by being constructively critical, to build up, not only to tear down. If we honestly never expect anything to improve, how can we be disappointed when it doesn't? How can we honestly complain?

Obama and McCain and their respective VP candidates will likewise fail if we don't believe in them. The power of hope and belief is stronger than we might initially think. This season, let's choose to hope and believe in stead of just tearing down.

"What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?" ~ George Eliot
"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day that simply says 'I will try again tomorrow.'" ~ Pope Benedict XVI
"It is not our abilities that show who we truly are. It is our choices." - Albus Dumbledore (yes, I quoted a fictional character).