The Sound of Hope

I didn’t see the entire speech President Obama made in Tucson Wednesday night, but I saw a lot of it. Regardless of one’s politics, I think it would be difficult to find fault with his message. In my opinion, those who continue to put up walls of division and refuse to compromise are completely irresponsible. Where do people get off thinking they can just refuse to hear an opposing view? It’s like working on a group project at work, or being in a marriage, or chairing a committee at your church, you don’t get your way all the time. HELLO! In fact, often no one person gets his or her way, but rather a new and better way is forged that is an amalgamation of thoughts, ideas and energy. That’s the beauty of working together – synergy – together we are greater than the sum of our parts. But if no one is willing to let go of their idea, or to listen to the idea of another, synergy cannot manifest.

In any group endeavor it’s essential to first identify the goal. Whether that goal is to create a successful new product or to maintain a loving relationship, identifying the interest held in common marks the point where beliefs, efforts and energies meet and begin to build momentum. It’s no different on a national scale. To truly move forward in this country we have to find a point where our beliefs converge on a goal that we seek and then move forward from there, keeping the mission in mind and always referring back to it if we begin to drift too far in one direction or another. If the only point on which we can agree is that we all want to be safe, then that’s where we start.

You see, I’m of the opinion that we all have much in common. Oh sure, we’re all individuals with unique gifts, but, let’s face it, we have a lot of similarities. We want good health care with a realistic price tag. We want our kids to grow up and have opportunities to be successful in a country where people feel safe and valued and free. We want to be heard and acknowledged when we have a concern. We want to believe that our leaders want what’s best for us, as a nation, more than they want to be a sound bite on CNN or Fox News.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think all that’s reasonable and possible. Here’s the challenge though, it requires us to set aside egos and work together toward the goal, being willing to do whatever we can to get there. That’s likely going to include some painful letting go and some uncomfortable reaching out, but there is no other way. Anyone who has worked successfully with others knows that. There will never be true progress without concessions, compromises, and sacrifices. Those things aren’t glamorous, for sure, but they are real and worthy efforts toward a better outcome that will last more than a day or an administration. That’s what I heard Wednesday night and to me it sounded like hope.

Bring on the New Year

This year our Christmas tree dried out very quickly. By a few days after Christmas it was so brittle I decided to commence with the undecorating process. Like usual I approached the task with a mix of dread and anticipation. I hate the tedious taking off of ornaments and then picking up 3.2 million prickly pine needles. All that before even beginning to drag the not-so-evergreen out the door, spewing aged water and 4 million more needles during the exodus.

But, anyway, it has to be done, so I do it. The good part, the part that I anticipate, if not with true eagerness at least with a little bit of relief, is how big and clear my living room looks once the tree’s out. It feels absolutely expansive and suddenly cleaner and lighter. It was especially so this year. I’m telling you, I felt like doing a cartwheel. And if not for the risk of breaking a hip, I would have.

Instead I stood there feeling all positive about the dead tree out of the room and the open space and light where it had been. In that moment I realized I could stand to do a little mental undecorating of my attitudes and angst. I decided to drag out some of the dusty, brittle, and outdated worries and disappointments packed away in my mind’s attic, and toss them right out there in the side yard alongside my now horizontal Christmas tree. And from that moment forward I’ve been a new woman, humming and skipping through blissful days.

Well, okay, that’s not exactly how it went, but I have been making efforts to do more “out with the old” to make room for some new and it has been good. A new year is the right time to realize that you can’t grab an opportunity if you’re using both hands to hold onto the past. All that undecorating broadened my living room and my horizons simply by clearing out what was finished to make room for what’s becoming. The space is there and so are the possibilities. I think it’s going to be a really happy new year.