Shakin the Etch-A-Sketch

Actually, I was thinking of those other things--the cheaper ones with the fake pencil and the thin sheet of plastic? You could draw whatever and then as soon as you couldn't stand it, you could simply lift the plastic and it would immediately erase the whole thing. Gotta love the re-do!

New Year's Resolutions...At our house it is usually recommitting to eating better, eating out less and paring down debt. Logically, these things go well together and would seem pretty modest in the way of revolutions. But at the Evans', following through on making meals and fixing the leak dumping all that money into the local eateries is no small task. For Diane and I, an annual resolution is simply insufficient. We find ourselves recommitting to the program about every three months or so. It's a shame, an embarrassment, really. ButI cherish the chance to start again nonetheless.

It would be hard to guess the multiple needed to extrapolate our annual eating resolution to whatever it is going to take to right our corporate ship. Earlier this week, I overheard a radio show looking back on 2008. One of the sentences that stood out was "the year that a billion became the new million." Trillion is now an operative word in public discourse.

The point (and the horror) is the weight of all this. We can look at how far we have to go and feel completely overwhelmed. This can be even more dangerous because the climb just seems pointless. I think I have a memory of a time during the late 1970's... my dad had been out of work for 9 months and our family was down to our last $10. My parents were just rung out and really had no options so my dad said, "Jump in the car kids, we're going to McDonald's!" It was a great surprise and actually felt like a stress-reliever. But of course, I was eleven at the time and I didn't have to get up the next morning and wonder what we were going to do for lunch.

I don't remember how long it was tough or how exactly my parents managed...but they did. And I am pretty sure it wasn't all them. God must have been looking out for us and for many. We did the things that we could. People helped out. We learned to enjoy things that didn't cost much. I don't even remember the details and I generally have a good memory.

So here's the thing. I welcome 2009, whatever it may bring. I hope that it is not tough. And I really hope that whatever the toughness--it does not last very long. But at the same time, I hope that my family can learn something from 2008. I hope that this will be a better year not only in terms of the stock market but in terms of how we live, what we value and where we find our joy.

So let's grab a hold of that etch-a-sketch or that cheaper thing with the plastic sheet and give ourselves a good ol' fashion re-do. Let's take a little more time and draw something else.