Failed Innocence

In early October of 1973 there was born a little boy. Generally happy and with little of importance to complain about, he was raised by two loving, hard working parents. As he grew and learned the ways of life, many happy and sad moments added to his memory the lessons he would need to face the world. Tragedies and happy times acted as milestones in his life that separated time in eras. Some good and some bad, these eras developed a timeline that allowed the boy to segment these memories as those to be remembered in different ways. When the boy reached the age of 17 he approached his parents about the possibility of joining the U.S. Navy. With deep skepticism his parent's signed the Department of Defense form allowing him to join at 17, once he graduated high school. So it came to be that the boy was now a man, and endured the rigors of basic training and specialty school. The man not only succeeded in the military but showed promise for a career. Then the man learned his first lesson in politics and suffered an embarrassing blow to his future in the military. Normally this would not dissuade someone from persevering but in this instant the blow was more than an outrage to him, it was devastating. The man came to the decision that four years was enough and he accepted his honorable discharge. Newly married and eager to start his life he and his new bride decided that returning home to the comfortable surroundings of his home state would be the safest way to begin this new undertaking. Soon the man and his wife discovered just how unprepared they were for the trials of life. Struggling to make ends meet and keep ahead of the bank, the man took a second job while going to school. These two newlyweds only saw each other on special occasions and when scheduling allowed. Soon marital strife crept in the door and disagreements and poor decisions became common place. Then one afternoon, after each of them had lost a job and both struggled to maintain composure, they simultaneously came to the realization that the only way to stay together was to quit the jobs they had and move in with his parents, file bankruptcy and bury the lives they had become accustomed to. This decision soon payed off and within 6 months the couple was out of dept and saving up to buy a house. 

Sounds like a modern day story, doesn't it? My wife and I endured this almost twenty years ago when "times" were good. Life is tough no matter how many people are out of work. I believe that this entire economic "recession" would not be nearly as bad if we weren't bombarded with the misery every 16 seconds by thousands of different media outlets and "news" organizations. Do yourself a favor and turn off, try this, I did and you wouldn't believe how much of a difference it made in my attitude, don't watch the news, keep your radio off and if you have to listen to music, only listen to Pandora Radio or your Ipod. Actually form your own opinions and forget about your political party for two weeks. Then think of how different your attitude is. You won't believe how much negativity you are dealing with every day. Of course you can also ignore me and turn on the television and listen to the news reports about corrupt prisons, racist politicians and "another" shooting at a preschool perpetrated by a recently terminated care giver. Good luck with your "positive" outlook.