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Tuesday, June 16. 2009
Hope for the Future
Reading or watching the news we see a world in turmoil. Riots in Iran, North Korea threatening nuclear war, genocide in Darfur, our nation fighting in two wars, the economy tanked, unemployment and home foreclosures at 50-year highs and every day it appears the world in our immediate vicinity is spinning out of control.We have no control over most of these events, with maybe some influence in the little patches of life in close proximity, but for the most part we are at best active participants and interested viewers. Collectively we’ve wrested control of the government, but we can only hope those we elected will do the right thing and hope that action proves to be fruitful.
Many people I know have stopped reading and watching the news because it makes them depressed; they can’t process all of it and what it means, if it means anything, so they shut it out and go on as if the world around them doesn’t exist outside of their immediate moment. It’s understandable really. Watching millions of people suffering and dying is not pleasant, not entertaining.
Hearing about billion dollar bailouts of industries that either failed to adjust to the times or outright ripped off the American public makes us not only angry, but enrages many people, especially when we’re told these are businesses “too big to fail.” Some guy rips off investors for tens of billions of dollars and goes to jail, but the investors, many retirees, are left without being reimbursed for their losses.
We read and watch stories about empty, talentless people who are famous for no other reason than they are famous. Kind of boggles the mind when you think about it. Who is Heidi Montag and more important, who cares? And yet she’s making the news because of her contentious marriage to … can’t think of his name … Spencer … that was spotlighted on an MTV reality show, The Hills.
The couple is making six figure incomes, for what? Being famous? It boggles the mind of most people who are working their butts off every day for a paycheck that is dwindling and by no means secure. Paris Hilton is so yesterday.
Montag reportedly will be the featured nude “celebrity” in the August issue of Playboy magazine. And, she claimed on The View, she’s a devout Christian. Talk about spinning heads!
Real celebrities are getting divorces, having affairs and hiring high-priced escorts and we get to see and read it all, whether we’re waiting in the checkout aisle of the supermarket or reading Yahoo News before we check our e-mail.
We see it, are bombarded with it every day in a 24-hour news cycle that is now coming to us every ten seconds or less, so much so we’re afraid to open our web browsers for fear of getting pop-up news items about the crap that’s making us crap. So it’s no wonder many people avoid the news. It’s scary, depressing and pissing us off!
But not all the news. Nope, some of the news is pretty nice and restores even just a little hope for the future. A boy or girl lost in the woods for several days is found alive and well. An airline crew “safely” crash-lands a passenger jet in a river and there are no casualties. A man held hostage by pirates is rescued. A Marine battalion that has been in Iraq for 15 months safely returns to Camp Pendleton. All of it good news, more for which we can be grateful.
And then there is the news we don’t receive via the usual news outlets: family news, tidbits about friends. My neighbors, Robin and Mike, are getting married in four days! Now that brings hope for the future! I’ve known both for several years now and they are the nicest, most helpful people I know, and most of the people I know are nice and eager to help someone in need.
My friends Eric and Bre are getting married soon, although they haven’t set a date. Another very kind and helpful couple. They brought me a lot of hope, kindness, love and assistance as I recovered from heart surgery.
Then there’s Claudia, a lovely person I’ve known for a while now. She’s a Hooters waitress, works at the Oceanside restaurant and has appeared in their calendars as well as Playboy. Having won the bikini contest for her Hooters, she competed in the regionals in Long Beach. Now she’d like to appear in the Hooters 2010 calendar. Click Here to send the powers-that-be a message asking them to put Claudia Gestro from Oceanside, CA in their 2010 calendar!
The most exciting and most hopeful news though belongs to my brother Ken and his wife Cindy: they just had their first child today at about 3 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s a girl, seven pounds, six ounces. We don’t know the name yet, but I’m sure Timalina is being considered! She’s Ken’s third child and Cindy’s first.
Nothing so ensures hope for the future as a child being born to willing and expectant parents; as my friend Roxanne pointed out on FaceBook, “Babies are a blessing.” Indeed! Our family has been blessed once again! As a guy who’s never had children, I’ll never know the joy my brother is experiencing at the moment, but I can confirm he is extremely joyful right now. Well good for he and Cindy! May they live long and happy lives with their children.There is hope for the future. We just have to quiet our monkey minds and experience it, relish the moment and remember all we really have is each other and today!
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