It isn’t that I think that our Representatives…The President, Senators and Congressman… should never be able to smile or enjoy themselves.  It’s just that while unemployment is at 9.2%, 31% of the houses are underwater (the value of the house is less than the outstanding mortgage), and the world is holding its breath awaiting resolution of the U.S. debt ceiling deadline on August 2^nd … it’s sort of disconcerting, if not at times infuriating, to see photos on the nightly news, or on major news websites, of all of them sitting in some situation room in the White House smiling.

You know that “good time” I think they are all entitled to …well this isn’t it.  And those photos just make me think about how they all have jobs and houses that are not under water…which makes me think they still don’t get it.

How is that possible?

You and I know how difficult and uncertain the economy is.  You and I know the future looks fraught with all sorts of problems we definitely didn’t anticipate.  You and I know how hard it is each day to care for ourselves and our families…just get through each day, really… while dealing with the stress of worrying about where all of this is headed and what’s in store for us when we get there.

I think it’s possible because they do not, in fact, get it.  And even if they do, they are clearly clueless about what to do about it. Their time is up.

We are headed into new and uncharted territory.  So it’s up to the explorer in each of us to blaze new trails of innovative thinking in our own lives. All change starts with the individual, an individual, actually.  That individual may be you…or it could be the child who is watching how you handle change and its accompanying uncertainty.

So as we’re blazing new trails, let’s make two course corrections that our political leaders seem unable to make. First, let’s tell the truth. Always. To ourselves and others no matter how painful. Second, let’s accept responsibility for the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves and, if we’re caught smiling on the job, let it be because we’ve figured out how to get ourselves out of this mess.

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