I've heard more than a few times that maintaining friendships requires effort. Some people replace effort with work, sacrifice, etc. I get the idea; back in the day you were friends with people that lived in your town making it easy to stay friends.
You learn quickly, though, that many friendships you had in high school fizzle as soon as you move far away enough where friendships somehow deteriorate and are no longer beneficial. I'm saying that the benefits are less than the costs.
Somewhere down the line you say to yourself, you know who your true friends are, all you need are a couple of good ones, and these friendships will last a lifetime. Sure, that could be true for some people. But I've said that about a couple of people in the past and now I don't. That's fine.
I used to be upset when I felt like my friendships with certain people were slipping. But, as the motivation of this blog, some view friends as objects. When they're convenient and beneficial to maintain, they will be.
Now, I have an answer for why any friend didn't seem to show the same 'effort' as me. And I suppose, to those people who view friends as objects, the meaning behind a best friend is someone that is invaluable; thus, no amount of 'effort' is too much when maintaining that friendship.
I'm so very grateful for anyone that calls me a friend and anyone that I call a friend. Inevitably, this list will change. Such is life.
This was just a random observation that lead to a bunch of random thoughts.
10.11.08
5.11.08
Euphoria.
Can't help but be like every other person in the world and share their feelings about this election. Before I get 'pessimistic' or 'skeptical', I'll share the overwhelming joy I felt last night when Obama gave his acceptance speech. He's living proof that so much is possible in one lifetime, and hopefully he's got plenty of years left. Not only is this a victory for everyone who voted for Obama, but it's a victory for every person who ever felt 'not American enough'. I've always been proud to be an American. Now, I never have to doubt my American-ness again. Thank you for that.
With this euphoria sweeping the nation, and my representative sample of the nation is the likes of Facebook and the news, I feel that many people lose sight of the past, current, and future issues. This is VERY dangerous. I doubt that anyone truly believes that suddenly all of our problems have vanished. Everyone knows that 'this victory alone is not the change we seek, it is only the chance for us to make that change.' No one is more aware of this then the person who said those words last night. I fear, though, that those who elected him are not.
Expectations are incredibly dangerous, especially at this euphoric level. The task was large for either candidate so forget about who was more qualified for a second. There is a ridiculous amount of work to do be done here in the USA. Obama himself realizes that things might not be done in one term. So then, what happens if the natural course of this country is to fall into a recession? Do we blame the next President? But how could a person whom so much is expected fail?
What if America suddenly rebounds and jumps right back into expansionary mode? Has there ever been a four year span where everything went perfectly? Or is it more realistic that one monumental problem simply gets replaced by another? The very nature of expectations sets us up for failure. And these incredibly high levels of expectations can only be negative for our future.
Did we elect the best possible candidate? Honestly, we'll never know simply because we cannot compare them both as Presidents with identical situations to handle. The future is very tricky like that. And we can all say what could have happened based on the past, but c'mon, that's a little ridiculous. Unfortunately, we will never be able to justifiably say that Obama handled this situation better than McCain would have. Therefore, all we can say, in absolute terms, is Obama handled this well/poorly.
The problem with that is some things are simply out of his control. He has '8 years of problems' to fix. How long are we going to give him before we label him as a bad President? How patient are we? How long does hope last? Just as there are negatives out of his control, there can be positives out of his control. And I hope for his sake, and more importantly our country's sake, the positives outweigh the negatives. For some strange reason, I always find it harder to see the positive side of things.
So after this lofty blog, I'll make my points. Obama wins. This is exciting. Hope. Chance for change. There was a chance for change with either candidate. There are issues that one person cannot address in one term, maybe one lifetime. Our expectations are dangerous. Be realistic about our future and plan accordingly. Hope.
--
read more at http://timsalterego.blogspot.com/
With this euphoria sweeping the nation, and my representative sample of the nation is the likes of Facebook and the news, I feel that many people lose sight of the past, current, and future issues. This is VERY dangerous. I doubt that anyone truly believes that suddenly all of our problems have vanished. Everyone knows that 'this victory alone is not the change we seek, it is only the chance for us to make that change.' No one is more aware of this then the person who said those words last night. I fear, though, that those who elected him are not.
Expectations are incredibly dangerous, especially at this euphoric level. The task was large for either candidate so forget about who was more qualified for a second. There is a ridiculous amount of work to do be done here in the USA. Obama himself realizes that things might not be done in one term. So then, what happens if the natural course of this country is to fall into a recession? Do we blame the next President? But how could a person whom so much is expected fail?
What if America suddenly rebounds and jumps right back into expansionary mode? Has there ever been a four year span where everything went perfectly? Or is it more realistic that one monumental problem simply gets replaced by another? The very nature of expectations sets us up for failure. And these incredibly high levels of expectations can only be negative for our future.
Did we elect the best possible candidate? Honestly, we'll never know simply because we cannot compare them both as Presidents with identical situations to handle. The future is very tricky like that. And we can all say what could have happened based on the past, but c'mon, that's a little ridiculous. Unfortunately, we will never be able to justifiably say that Obama handled this situation better than McCain would have. Therefore, all we can say, in absolute terms, is Obama handled this well/poorly.
The problem with that is some things are simply out of his control. He has '8 years of problems' to fix. How long are we going to give him before we label him as a bad President? How patient are we? How long does hope last? Just as there are negatives out of his control, there can be positives out of his control. And I hope for his sake, and more importantly our country's sake, the positives outweigh the negatives. For some strange reason, I always find it harder to see the positive side of things.
So after this lofty blog, I'll make my points. Obama wins. This is exciting. Hope. Chance for change. There was a chance for change with either candidate. There are issues that one person cannot address in one term, maybe one lifetime. Our expectations are dangerous. Be realistic about our future and plan accordingly. Hope.
--
read more at http://timsalterego.blogspot.com/
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