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My, what the last few years have wrought: a self-serving LeBron James, a cheating Tiger Woods and a scheming Pat Riley. We witnessed a comeback-hungry Whitney Houston, a battered Rihanna and an obscenity from Joe Biden. We buried a pitiful Gary Coleman, a reformed Dennis Hopper and a forever-youthful Jimmy Dean. We saw an irrepressible George Steinbrenner face a bottom-of-the-ninth-inning challenge that money could not change; may his pioneer spirit rest in peace. Brett Favre waffled and Charlie Sheen went back to court; then they both signed monstrous one-year contracts for financial gains beyond what most of us will earn in a lifetime. There are so many examples, and so many lessons to be learned.
We take the garbage to the curb Sunday night, and bring the cans back to the house Monday after work then fill them again with newspapers that herald more loss, less gain, more confusion and certainly fewer “precious moments.” Once in a while we pause and ask, “What’s it all for? What’s it all about?” And then the momentum of life blows an increasingly steady wind at our back and whispers, “Hey, don’t worry about it,” and we shake it off like a wet dog, and begin to push forward again. The imposed mediocrity peppered by the will to carry on is like seeing all the family cars parked in the driveway as you walk to the house on your birthday and having to pretend to be amazed that everyone’s there when you enter. “Surprise!” You knew it the whole time and, disheartened again, plop down in the heavily mortgaged home that has lost about 40 percent of its 30-years-to-build equity within a few months, and say, “For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
Don’t Get Sucked In
Depending where your radio and television are tuned, an economic recovery is right around the corner (CNN) or further away than it has ever been (FOX). We’ve learned that the truth is only an interpretation, not a requirement of the media. Our kids have their heads buried in 3-inch screens all the time now, typing away on keyboards made for the cast of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, while downing Red Bull by the gallon so they can stay up late and see which relative of Hulk Hogan is most likely to consider ending it all next.