Clicking through headlines today on MSN News I was rather pleased to see there weren’t any really horrible news headlines. I like it that way. Of course for some the news of the falling stock markets may be bad, but for me it isn’t. In some ways I think this recession may wind up being a good thing for this country. It will definitely make quite a few people take check of their lives and learn to actually prioritize. People can finally figure out for themselves exactly what they think is important to them. Granted my financial obligations could take some looking at too. I’ve definitely tried to cut back in certain areas and be a bit more mindful of spending but I think anyone on a budget needs to be mindful of their spending. And I believe our country will come out of this slump, it may not happen over night but it will happen. And I’m hoping that when we do come out of it we will come out of it with a bit fewer greedy people, businesses and corporations. Everybody wants something for nothing and that’s part of how we got into the mess we’re in now. But this too shall pass.

In other areas of my mind…every morning I take the same way to work and every morning to get there I turn at the same car dealership. The dealership where we bought our explorer at almost four years ago. The same dealership where the guy that sold us the car would wave or say hi anytime he saw me and remembered my name. Two weeks ago at 39 years old he died of a massive heart attack. His name was Tracy, his children go to Little Guys school, he was dating one of our veterans’ daughters and he was friends with a number of the people that worked here at the courthouse. Even though I hadn’t really held much of a conversation except for the passing “hey how are ya?” since 4 years ago his death really hit me. I was used to seeing him at some point almost everyday. Our parking lot is right behind the dealership and he and I would leave for lunch around the same time and always wave. When dropping Little Guy off at school every morning I would see his car parked in front of his house right across from the school. Reading his obituary I learned that he had 4 children, two girls, and two boys. The two boys he had custody of and had been raising on his own for a number of years. Now their lives are forever changed. I learned that he more or less died in his girlfriends arms; she did CPR until the ambulance drove the 2 minutes to get there, but sadly none of it was enough. And his family didn’t even have the decency to name her anywhere in his obituary. Even though he wasn’t a close friend or a big part of my life his death has really struck a chord with me. I think it’s because it drove the fact home of how quickly life can change. His death has done a wonderful job of bringing some of my underlying fears front and center. I’m trying not to dwell on any of them and instead focus on keeping myself healthy and enjoying everyday with my family and taking each day as it comes. I try to relax more and remember the world will not come to an end if we don’t get the laundry done or if we’re a few minutes late.

“There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."-Oogway, Kung Fu Panda