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The Obama Administration has been in office for not quite two weeks and the
republic is still standing. I am now seeing a trend of impatience among people
who gave him until the day after being sworn in to fix the economy. Now some are
swearing at him. My grandmother used to say "time takes time". We have to have
some patience for the new president. I tuned out the "Bush Haters" for 8 years
and will tune out the faction that hate the new Commander in Chief. I would
rather have to kiss Barney Frank than to listen to one more television
commentator saying our nation is headed for doom. Dear friends, we are Americans
and we have survived the threat of Adolph Hitler and came out of the Great
Depression a stronger country. We are going to regain our economic footing as we
put away Bernie "Mad Dog" Madoff and the thieves that raided Wall Street. Some
people lost everything they had because they trusted someone selling something
too good to be true. I learned a long time ago that if anything appears too good
to be true, it is.
My belief in being positive about life came from the people of my hometown. I
learned a lot from folks like "Doogan" Ray, Bud Jones, Jewel Ward, G. B. Evans,
Dr. Richard D. Allen, Pauline Rambo, Ray Hitchcock, Frances Greene, Jess Newman,
and my Aunt Freddie Meunier. Optimism gave me the belief that I could go to
college and have a 37 year profession that I had a lot of fun at. Optimism got
me through getting fired from that profession as many from Tallapoosa gave me
words of encouragement and pats on the back. Being told by people in Tallapoosa
that they were proud of me is a treasure for the heart. Having presidents of two
major state universities calling me within hours of being fired and offering me
an opportunity to teach reinforces the spirit of optimism that I learned growing
up in Tallapoosa. I try to teach my 102 students this semester that being
positive is the only way to live in these times of struggle. Waking up at 6 a.m.
I bounce right out of bed ready to face the day. That was taught me courtesy of
my grandmother who thought not enough rest or too much rest for a young fellow
wasn't good. More than once growing up the lawn mower was chopping around the
yard at sun up in those hot Haralson County summers as to beat the heat of the
day. The axiom of staying positive isn't easy sometimes. Often a negative
thought of "what if" has to be whipped into submission and has to be replaced by
a positive energy that says "why not". I am a fan of Rick Warren who wrote "A
Purpose Driven Life" and Joel Osteen "Become A Better You" . Both of these books
are in easy reach of my desk in my office. My mother used to say to keep good
thoughts and to try to lift somebody up along life's way. My mother's optimism
got her a GED at 40 years of age. She never gave up and I don't think I can.
Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a Distinguished Lecturer in the
Department of Communication and serves as Director of Special Projects in the
Office of Development at Kennesaw State University. Contact him at P. O. Box
1001, Tallapoosa, Georgia 30176 or email at
Rhubarbjones@aol.com
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