DeKAY: New dawn, a new day, new life -- She’s feelin’ good

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December 31, 2008

By PEGGY DEKAY The News and Tribune Wed Dec 31, 2008, 03:38 PM EST

The title of this column is taken from a song called “Feeling Good” by Muse. I am not sure how many of us are “feelin'’ good” these days. Perhaps many of us would say, thankfully, 2008 is behind us. It seems that old institutions and the old ways of doing things are no longer valid, or working.

The one thing that is a constant and that we can all count on, year in and year out, is change. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes not so much, but it is always with us.

Here are just a few of the startling changes that took place for us in 2008:

• Gas prices soared to more than $4 per gallon, then dipped to less than $1.50.

• We elected the first black president.

• The government reluctantly became a shareholder in private banks.

• Foreclosures are at record highs.

• Bankruptcies are at record highs.

• Interest rates for home mortgages are at all-time lows.

• There is a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate.

• A democracy was been formed in the heart of the Middle East — in Iraq.

• A Senate seat, vacated by the president-elect, was been allegedly put on sale to the highest bidder by the governor of Illinois.

• The 150-year-old Wall Street investment banking firm, Lehman Brothers, collapsed.

• The country is in the midst of the worst economic recession in the past 75 years.

• Paul Newman, Heath Ledger and Isaac Hayes died.

• The Russian army invaded the Republic of Georgia and overran most of the country in just four days.

• China hosted the 2008 Olympics.

• An earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale killed 69,000 people in southwest China.

• Sarah Palin became the first female Republican vice presidential candidate.

• Bernie Madoff went down for allegedly running the largest Ponzi scheme on record, over $50 billion.

• Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympic Games.

These are mind-blowing, head-spinning, can’t-catch-your-breath changes. Again, I say the one constant, the one thing we can rely on, the thing that we can depend on is … change.

Here is a verse from a rap song called “Things Done Changed,” made famous by Christopher G. L. Wallace, better known as Notorious B.I.G. In this song, he is writing about social changes taking place in the neighborhood where he grew up — Brooklyn, N.Y. He sold millions of records and became quite wealthy. Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting in March 1997 in Los Angeles.

“Back in the days our parents used to take care of us,

Look at em now, they even [explicative] scared of us.

Callin’ the city for help because they can’t maintain,

[explicative, explicative] done changed.”

Because we now live in a world of instant information, we are continually aware of change. When something changes anywhere in the world, we know about it. We seek change in our politics, our style of clothing and our hair styles. We call for change in our schools, in the halls of government and in our environment. We clamor for change, and when it comes, we miss the old ways.

And so I am left in quandary … what do we do with change? It seems to me we have four choices: We can embrace it, get used to it, get on with it or get over it. The one thing we cannot do is get away from it.

As for that old bugaboo, change, here is the best advice I can share with you today. It is from Ecclesiastes — a book of the Bible written by a man renowned for his wisdom — Solomon.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

A time to kill, a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stone, and a time to gather stone together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time of war, and a time of peace.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is an old business maxim that I read some time ago that says when you decide to make a change in your life, 51 percent of the time you are right — which means that 49 percent of the time you are wrong. So if you are thinking of a change in your life in 2009, you have a 51 percent chance of being right.

I say go for it. If you are contemplating a change in 2009, do it. That trip you have been planning, go for it in 2009. That job you aren’t sure you can get — send your resume. That diet you’ve been putting off, just do it. It’s 2009, and great changes are mine!

2008 is gone, 2009 has begun — “stuff done changed!”

“Thoughts from the Hungry Side of Daybreak” are written by Peggy DeKay, a freelance writer. She can be reached at pdkpost@gmail.com

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