End of the Year Again - 2009

It's the end of the year again, and for the record, this site has not gotten the attention that it truly deserves. But to be truthful, I have been busy.
Making it through extremely rough economic times, seeing friends and relatives getting laid off and dealing with the sling and arrows of age, and finding out about the passing of old friends. Whew.

However, life for me and my family goes on. Watching my son come into his own as a young man, and accepting the responsibilities of life has been a comfort this year. More than any of his 19 years thus far, this last year has been a maturing adventure for him. He is enjoying the process of learning, and his grades are showing this love. He found a job in a city where the job market is depressed, and he is feeling what it is like to enjoy doing something that has a positive feedback, and for this I am both proud of him and proud for him. He amazes me everyday.

Additionally, I found out that my younger brother Paul has a from of lung cancer that is in-curable. Go figure, for a person that never smoked, and certainly not as a life long habit like some I know. Regardless, this was a major blow! Although, additional testing showed that he did not have any further cancerous infection within his bones or his blood, and for this I am very thankful.. My mother would be proud of him for his strength, and his ability to marshal his focus and carry on with this new knowledge, and the fact that this incident has me seeking answers from God. Religion, in its organizational form is not my cup of tea, so to speak; however, it is not that I do not believe in a greater force that myself, I just can't stand how the organized so called faith's of the world use and abuse the powerful forces that we all have within us to believe, and that it is up to each and every one of us to find that point within ourselves where with our own mind we know what we believe, and that this is the driving force that allows us to love ourself and those around us.

I love myself, my wife, my son, and my brother, and through this time I have found new things in people from my life that proves that the love in my immediate and extended family is equally as deep and as pervasive. My entire family has been a wonderful comfort as we all cope with the cancer in Paul's chest.

But moving forward into next year, I look forward to greater and more positive things from myself, medical technology, and the leaders that we allow to govern by our acceptance. Yes this is probably a statement that I will be a wee more politically active in the coming year. It is a fact that in 2009 I turned 53, and this is the supposedly point of inflection where the mind and body (typically called middle age) begin to decrease in reliability and sharpness; however, funny as it may sound and to quote a song from my youth "I don't feel tardy!" But as I know that the world has changed and the flow of economies has tilted like no other time in the history of me, I will make changes that have dramatic effect. Changes that for the most part may only affect me, but I will strive to make them. Because without a better me, I cannot be a better person for those that depend on me for support, care, love, and just sometimes my opinion.

The new year is coming whether we want it to or not, and change is the only true constant, and a pretty good way to measure the past, and to predict the future. So, I welcome the new year, and look forward those things within my power to change and ask God to take care of the rest.

Happy Holiday's all, and remember - You are a recorder of life, and life is important, albeit that one day it will end. The fact that you know that the world you became a part of exist in your mind can be used to shape the world you expect to be a part of and to share with others. This is the power of your mind, and from its focus comes love, and that is the power we all have to share!