According to the way the digits fall in the calendar, today is the start of a new decade. I think this sneaked up on people. Ten years ago, people celebrating a new millennium tried to throw the biggest party the world had ever seen. Last night, celebrations were scaled back. Partly this was because of financial concerns, but partly because people were so busy dealing with all the other changes going on that they didn’t have time to get anything big together.
I am optimistic about the way people will handle the rapid changes that will be coming along this year and perhaps all through the decade. Two recent news items bolster my optimistic outlook. A consumer survey released yesterday showed that people were optimistic about their personal and family lives even as they predicted new problems in the economy and job market this year. This says to me that people are emotionally prepared to respond to whatever changes they encounter. Also yesterday, a crime report showed the murder rate at the lowest level it has been in my lifetime. Murder tends to happen when people are not thinking, but just reacting emotionally without any sense of proportion, so I would like to think a lower murder rate is a sign that people are thinking more clearly.
It used to be said that change was the only constant. Now we know that even change has to change. Either way, change is a funny thing, and it doesn’t pay to take it too seriously.
