Sobering Up
 Three
months ago, I found hope for the new year—or,
at least I found Hope, New Mexico, on New Year's
Eve. Taking it as an omen for the coming year, I
felt hopeful that 2003 would be a better year than
previous ones. Though such a prognostication has
been obstructed by a war, a mystery illness and a
still-sagging economy (not to mention other, more
personal factors), there's time yet for things to
turn around this year. More interestingly, I
believe that although we may see more stability
later this year, our country will look different.
When the economy stabilizes, we won't find
ourselves back in the bubbles-and-bubbly days of
the 1990s. The country was drunk on dot-com, but
after the bottle ran dry and the buzzkill of 9/11
busted the door down, the party was over for good.
Now, thankfully, we are a sober nation. We may
drink a shot of Nasdaq here, a glass of IPO there,
but we won't go on any Enron-Worldcom binges. We
may not see the Dow hit 20,000, but we won't see
pink elephants either.
Like so many of its citizens, America has taken
a beating over the past two years, and has learned
and grown from it. We as a nation have become more
prudent and cautious, appreciating what we have and
making more realistic choices about our future.
Would I have wished the events of the past two or
three years on us? Probably not. Have such trials
effected a change for the better? Perhaps it's too
early to say, but I believe so.
I heard a parable a long time ago about a young
male lion sitting on a hill with the leader of the
pride, a magnificently maned older lion. As they
surveyed all of the lionesses lying in the sun
below, the eager young male wanted to bound down
lickety split and make mad love to the first
lioness he found. The older lion cautioned him to
curb his lust. If we rush headlong down there, he
counseled, we can have our way with one of them. If
we take our time, we can have them all.
The point is simple; in fact, it can be summed
up in a much more pithy adage: "Live fast, die
young." It may be glamorous to live the days of
wine and roses of 1999, but such parties end all
too soon. Every binge is followed by a hangover. If
we move slow, take our time like that wise old
lion, we can have it all. I think that's where
we're heading. We've learned our hard lessons,
we've learned that what goes up must come down. Now
it's time for a more measured, more sober approach.
At least, that's my gut belief.
Then again, I'm not a financial professional,
just a writer who's trying to fill some space. Only
time will tell if I came upon a significant turning
point last December 31 or just got lost on some
back road of New Mexico.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
day of this new year, I will write
something, anything, and post it here. It
is my intention to use this daily exercise
to jump-start my too-long-dormant creative
energies, and perhaps generate some
worthwhile material this year. Hopefully
you will find at least an occasional
amusement or insight in my daily
musings.
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4/3:
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