On innaguration day cynics
There are a lot of people out there, it seems, who are warning against setting our sights too high with the new administration. Warnings that politicians make all sorts of promises they can't keep. Warnings that one man can't solve all the world's problems. Warnings that we are setting this ordinary human on a pedestal that he will inevitably fall from.
And they are right. No politician can do everything they want to, no one can create a new world alone, and no one is perfect.
But I'm not going to believe them. I am going to foolishly, heedlessly pin my hopes and dreams of a better country, better world, better future on our new president.
Two reasons for this.
1. Change can only happen if you want it to, and if you believe strongly enough and work hard enough to make it real. By dismissing out of hand that the things you want to see as improbable, you will probably never see them come to pass. But if it is possible, if the goal seems to be just over the horizon, then you gain the strength to do what it takes to cross that horizon.
2. I'm sick and tired of hedging my bets. I've always been in the mode of trying not to want anything too badly lest I be disappointed. I know with the election, a lot of people felt that way, but personally, I do it with everything. (I probably won't get that job. There's little to no chance of getting pregnant the first try and even if I do, one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. Well, I'll give it a shot, but they probably won't cast me. I'll ask, but it probably won't do any good.) Just call me Eeyore. And it's probably a cop-out to give in to wishing for things over which I have relatively little control, but maybe it's a first step.
So for once I'm going to drop the cynicism and let myself hope.
And they are right. No politician can do everything they want to, no one can create a new world alone, and no one is perfect.
But I'm not going to believe them. I am going to foolishly, heedlessly pin my hopes and dreams of a better country, better world, better future on our new president.
Two reasons for this.
1. Change can only happen if you want it to, and if you believe strongly enough and work hard enough to make it real. By dismissing out of hand that the things you want to see as improbable, you will probably never see them come to pass. But if it is possible, if the goal seems to be just over the horizon, then you gain the strength to do what it takes to cross that horizon.
2. I'm sick and tired of hedging my bets. I've always been in the mode of trying not to want anything too badly lest I be disappointed. I know with the election, a lot of people felt that way, but personally, I do it with everything. (I probably won't get that job. There's little to no chance of getting pregnant the first try and even if I do, one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. Well, I'll give it a shot, but they probably won't cast me. I'll ask, but it probably won't do any good.) Just call me Eeyore. And it's probably a cop-out to give in to wishing for things over which I have relatively little control, but maybe it's a first step.
So for once I'm going to drop the cynicism and let myself hope.