Good news despite the sour economy

A few months ago after the US received its first ever credit rating downgrade (from AAA to AA+), one thing became crystal clear:  Good things do come to an end.

At the mercy of a gazillion dollar debt, our nation has had to deal with the deepest depression of recent memory. Due to rising unemployment, housing prices continue to fall, sending some places into foreclosure trend.  According to 24/7 Wall, the ten housing markets that have disaster written all over them and are expected to collapse at least 10% next year are:  four in California (San Bernardino, Merced, El Centro and Salinas); three in Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Naples); Las Vegas, Nevada; Detroit, Michigan; and Bethesda, Maryland.  Great news:  my neck of the woods isn’t on the list.  Thank the Good Lord!

Money, and everything it represents, can go away at the blink of an eye.  This is a time when citizens of the Universe must realize that material possessions that bring temporary bliss cannot be depended on for long-term prosperity.  I have seen it in my lifetime… the Stock Market crash, the depreciation of home values (despite the home being long believed as the most valuable personal asset), the fall from grace of men and women once revered and put on pedestals, Mother Nature’s wrath that brought homelessness and despair to thousands of families, joblessness that gave the casualties of Corporate America a reason to expect the skies to fall.

One only has to listen to the news to know that something’s not right in our present day world.  Look around us… Wall Street has been in a see-saw swing mood which leaves investors in a state of suspense, even despair.  Will tomorrow bring the recovery of lost wealth?  Or will the end of trading day send them into cardiac arrest? 

Despite the gloom and doom of our modern day reality, my glass-half-full mentality inspires me to look for the silver lining.  Not too long ago, I chanced upon the story of Kathryn Stockett,”The Help” author who received 60 rejection letters before a literary agent finally saw her manuscript as a potential bestseller.  Stockett chased her dream (with nagging determination may I say) despite 60 rejections.  For her unstoppable persistence, the 61^st letter was the charm.

Then there’s the lost-and-found high school ring that had been missing for 45 years (that’s almost half a century!).  In his younger days, sixty-three year old John Kaldmo lost his 1966 Anderson High School class ring in the Four Mile Creek in Anderson, Ohio.  Fortunately, his initials “JK” were engraved inside the ring.  

While walking back to her house, a 10-year old girl named Avery Dorsh noticed something shiny under a rock.  Thinkng that it might be an earring, she picked it up and was surprised to find a 45-year old high school ring from Anderson High School.  Then began the efforts for the Dorsch family to put the puzzle together.  Long story short, Kaldmo got his ring back and  planned to show and tell at the school’s September reunion.

Stories such as the above illustrate the power of human determination and the possibility of lost possessions finding their way back to the owners despite the passage of time.  Stockett validates what positive thinkers have always believed… that seriously pursuing a dream do result in finding bliss.  On the other hand, the lost and found ring inspires feel-good emotions because it proves that in this sometimes deadbeat world, there are honest people… absolutely remarkable folks who go out of their way to put a smile on someone's face.  More power to you!

"Help" author Kathryn Stockett

Photo Credit:  Unknown