Most this night and into the wee hours of the next morning people all over the planet will be revealing in festivities, rejoicing for good fortune past or hoping for them in the months to come. They will be making resolutions that many will not sustain past the first month. They will be reflective on those that have passed known and unknown to them personally , they will be hopeful and joyous that those in charge of whatever nation they belong will do the right things for them, their people. They will rejoice in song and drink. They will remember the year now leaving and embracing the new year entering.
I will as I have always done, watch it quietly fade from one calendar into the next. I don’t do Amateur night, oddly it has always been the one night I do not take of alcohol of any kind. I spend it in reflection very much focused on what I have been blessed with and what I need to work on to make me a better me. Every year I struggle and try to keep my eye on the prize, (whatever that prize may be to me) every year I fall short but remember to be thankful for all I have accomplished and those I have in my life. I was always told as a small child, ”that life is simple, its people that tend to mess it up”. I have found more foundation to this with every years passing. I being one of those people am not exempt for my own shortcomings.
I look beyond the past year to the past decade. I recall this same time ten years ago we all feared the dreaded Y2K, the moment came and went not much happened. We moved on. But you see something did happen, we as a planetary species became afraid of the unknown in unity. In its aftermath, it was business as usual when nothing horrific took place. We tend to do that a lot, and I must say that’s what scares me the most about humans. We scurry and plan for the day and do nothing for the future if the day doesn’t live up to our fears.
We moved forward: September 11, 2001. I don’t need to say anymore, except this, this was our last wake up call. Welcome to the real World.
We went to War, our emotions burned within us for revenge, we came together, again our fears brought unity to the masses. The rest of the planet just seemingly stepped out of our way. The American arm of War was taught its fists clinched to lash out at any that might get in its way: “vengeance is mine, say eth the Lord”.
Amongst the years of War came, famine upon other nations in third world countries, genocide in places with strange names like Darfur. But that wasn’t our problem. We had our own hungry, displaced and homeless families. Little did we realize that soon greed would make everything so much worse than we could imagine. We were all guilty at some level, whether you admit it or not.
While we kept our eyes on Iraq and Afghanistan, the people in charge of our financial interests were raiding our cookie jars. Many of us fell right into place, buying things we knew we couldn’t afford, hoping for a flip on our investments. {I really wish that infomercials would be pulled from television programming, they are insulting and fictitious advertising}.
Now there are thousands of homes foreclosed upon, not all people bought with the intention of flipping, many did buy into the American dream. But the dream became a nightmare for the honest working folks a windfall for the banking industry and Wall Street. You say wait, they hurt also they had to get bailed out. Yes, and for the most part that’s what their biggest investment gamble was, that the GOV would step in to halt a full collapse of the industry. The People, as in WE the People, still ended up with foreclosure, mounting debt, falling lines of credit, bottom line we pay for the bailout, the financial industry wins. Many have already paid back the GOV and are soaring higher than before debt free, while we still wallow in the wake of financial destruction, they created.
Let us not forget the recent flu pandemics of late. O’ and our great agenda to pass a health care initiative through capital hill. I would not disagree that health care is expensive again we the people carry the brunt of this on our backs. We need everybody in this country to be healthy. Both body and mind. I am not opposed to health care but I haven’t had the pleasure to read the bill that has passed the Senate either. Last I checked they worked for me, yet I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting many of the current representatives, they don’t live in my neighborhoods, they don’t seem to shop in my stores. We cater to them as we would the French courts of old, I thought that’s what we feared most, monarchy rule. I have always wondered why they get paid so much when many are already more than wealthy and to top it all off they wine dine and travel on our dime. Keeping there pay while spending mine. Sorry just clearing my head. Just saying.
I look back on theses past Ten years , I am thankful for many things, firstly my family, we may be a dysfunctional and at times disgruntled bunch, we may not be as close as some of us would like but we as a family are intact. We know who we are. We know that we Love each other through it all.
I am thankful to still be here, I survived a massive emergency Quad Bypass surgery just short of five years ago, and I have had three stint interventions since. A four hour surgery became as I was told eleven or so hours. I woke up four days later, thinking it only a matter of hours gone by. I could tell you what I experienced, but you wouldn’t believe me so I will keep it to myself. What I can tell you is I have no fear of Dying save that of leaving my loved ones. I have always struggled with my belief, I not only own and have skip read several Bibles that I own in my library but also the Qur’an , some of the Torah and with many interests in Buddhism . I was baptized may 23,2007 for the first time in my life, ever. I am a christian , I believe in the Christ, but I say this to my fellow Christians there is more room for all of us than you may realize. The light comes for many when we are called home. Judgment is not ours but belongs solely to the father, as he says, “Love thy neighbor”. Perhaps if we started listening to his undiluted words and acted more on it , some of this tension and hatred would come to pass. Other Prophets also carried with them words of wisdom. Perhaps theirs should be heeded as well, we can always learn more from our differences to find a road to peaceful co-existence. You may be surprised at the similarities after all..
These past ten years have been an adventure for myself and my family. My wife and I have moved several times, mostly after my heart intervention, so that we could accommodate our financial situation and live as comfortably as possible. We now live and enjoy northern Arizona for its small town appeal and its proximity to friends and family in the Las Vegas area.
We have been blessed with two fine grandchildren, now seven and five years, which we love very much and unfortunately haven’t seen much, but all this will change next year. We have seen our three children grow into fine young adults and as they are still evolving within themselves , I sit back and watch as I can at the creative metamorphoses they go through with every passing experience. Words can never express how much I love them or how proud I am of them. They at their tender ages have exceeded far beyond my potential ever could. They have chosen good paths and if they continue to follow through great things lye in store into their old age long after most of us have passed from memory.
For the most part Our family is intact. We have though lost to important members: My Aunt Audrie first and only daughter of my Grandfather’s first union after settling in America from Sweden. She leaves behind her loving husband, three Children and numerous grandchildren.
My Uncle Bill, my Aunt Linda’s devoted husband, father and grandfather to his children. He was a funny guy who gave life everything he could.
We have lost cousins here and relatives far removed overseas in Sweden. They all will be sorely missed and remembered.
I promise my self in the new year to come, to be ever vigilant of the World around me. We still live in changing times that could go either way if we do not take care. I would hope that my friends and family, for that matter anyone whom might perchance read this take care, remember to be humble in the face of adversity. Frugal, when living the day to day. Kind to strangers, never averting your sight from what could have been yours. Many of us live pay day to pay day. When did we lose the ability to survive as hunter gatherers and become sheep for the captains of industries. Embracing technology is a good thing, if embraced properly. I seem to recall just forty odd years ago living without all the bells and whistles and living very well indeed. Perhaps we need a bit of the old school mentality with the application of the new world technology.
In closing:
I pray the same prayer as always, that you may find peace and tranquility throughout your life. More patience to deal with that which is unknown and that you may fear. That you will strive for peace not only among those that are different than yourself but also of those with similar thought. That hunger and homelessness will be eradicated within my time on Earth. That children and woman will be respected and not brutalized as they have been and still are throughout the World today. That Man will utilize the garden we have been given for more productive and respectful purposes to feed the world without raping the lands and polluting the air and waterways needed for our own survival.
That we as Humans learn finally learn what it is to be Human and humane.
I am not a pacifist, I will fight if provoked, its animal nature. I have been homeless, incarcerated, beaten, alone, hungry, unforgiving, intolerably drunk or high on drugs of one kind or another, thoughtless, rude, fowl, vial and down right nasty on some occasions. I have also been grateful, feed, housed, freed, humble, loved, found, forgiven and repented upon. I been given the gift of life (more than once) and I am still evolving into that better person I seek to be.
In old age and near death Michelangelo was asked what he thought of his life , he responded, ”I’m still Learning”. I like that.
Happy New Year, as my Muslim friends would say - Peace be with You
Sincerely and Always Yours Rob McLean
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