A Year on Hold

When we look back on 2009 it is easy to overlook so many things that have happened. Sure, we remember that the first black President of the United States was sworn into office. We also remember that The King of Pop died under was have been put kindly as "questionable circumstances", but we have also forgotten about so many other things that have happened that a year ago would have been on the minds of every man and woman in the United States.
What then, should we as a people take from the last year? What was the big event that defined the last year of the decade? Did we reform immigration? Did we overhaul the healthcare system? Did we close Guantanamo Bay? Did we end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Did we do anything besides file for bankruptcy and look for non-existent jobs? The answers to all of the questions can be answered quite simply. No.
The question then becomes, What did we do over the last year? Well… we survived. That in itself is a feat. The world did not erupt in nuclear war when North Korea tested its long range missiles. H1N1 did not become the epidemic that so many feared it would become. The Republicans and Democrats are still fighting over healthcare and sure enough, even after an executive decree, Guantanamo Bay is still holding terror suspects. While this may seem like we lost a year of progress in 2009, it all depends on how you look on it.
After the housing and market crashes in late 2008, the country started down the now all too familiar path of recession and bailouts. We learned that we will eventually be accountable for our actions and our growing outstanding debt. Credit card limits were slashed and the summer vacation to Europe was spent at Lake Powel. We realized that we can wait to see the movie at the dollar show, or maybe we could just check out the book from the library. We learned that just because we can, doesn't mean we should, and that time spent with our families can be just as enjoyable as time spent on the golf course.
Was the year 2009 a waste? The answer is the same. No. It very well may be that the President and the Government as a whole may not have been able to achieve the lofty goals that they set for themselves, but we have grown as a country.
What should we take? Simple, we can take the knowledge that in small ways, each and every one of us had a chance to make this country a better place, and many of us seized the opportunity. At the end of the year, we all live in a better place because of the choices that we have made. We were not consumed by the overwhelming despair that we may have felt a year ago. The world did not end on January 1, 2000. It was still here as of January 1, 2011.
Let's spend the next year in the same fashion as the last, doing our best to make good decisions, caring for others and trying to make our piece of the world a little bit better each day.