State of the Union

Right now I am watching President Obama and the State of the Union address. I wouldn't mind it so much if two things could be accomplished. First, if the President could say his speech without the interruption of clapping, and second, if the news commentators would shut up. But that's not going to happen, so I'll blog as I listen.

I realize I should pay attention and care. But I don't so much. Mainly because it's a lot of talk and I prefer that actions speak. It's advertising and marketing and salesmanship and I'm too cynical to listen with open ears. But for many people, it's an important night. They want to hear President's Obama's speech, either to rally support for him or compile evidence against him.

Which leads me to tonight's blog subject - state of the union. Wouldn't it be interesting if every year, each of us personally made our own "state of the union" address? Wouldn't it be interesting if we took account of our lives, our relationships, and our existence on this earth? Wouldn't it be interesting if we looked at all those things, recognized our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and really thought about where we are and where we want to go?

Maybe we could figure out how to meet those New Year's Resolutions by noticing what worked and what didn't. Maybe we could figure out why we can't save money and figure out how to. Maybe we could fix those things that prevent us from doing what we want to do. Maybe by looking at what we've done, we could figure out how to do what we want to do.

Certainly we will have those people that will applaud us and those that will discourage us. We will have those people around us who will criticize us and question what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how we're we're going about doing it. But they are not the vital players - we are. The important thing is that we took an accounting of our lives on this Earth, thought about where we want it to go, and are making plans on how to get there.

Because in the end, it's up to us to make our lives what we want them to be. It may not be perfect, or easy, or quick. Sometimes it may not even be under our control. But if we're diligent, if we keep looking toward the goals that we've set for ourselves, and if we encourage ourselves as we go, then we can look at our lives and say, "I've looked at the state of me, and it's good."

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Things that make today great: Demos dinner with Steve; taking dinner to Lynnette and Lindley; giving blood at Red Cross; people at Red Cross; jogging a bit at boot camp; DVC lady and March ressie; making eggs and turkey bacon for Maribeth