I stopped watching the news for the most part about 2 months ago. I don’t remember a time where it was ever so filled with doom and gloom. The economic times are strange indeed. When you look at the statistics, we really aren’t that bad. I think the most troubling time period in my lifetime was during the mid-80’s when we had stagflation. The economy was stagnant and there was run-away inflation. Those two can’t exist at the same time, at least theoretically.
This time, though, people seem just rooted in fear. And rooted is a good term, it’s almost like being frozen. I’ve long known that the way to prosper is to go opposite what everyone else is doing. But, I have a confession to make. I’m finding that even I (who has been accused of being a Pollyanna more than once in my life) find my faith tumbling occassionally.
I don’t understand why we have this overwhelming feeling of gloom going on. Let’s look at reality. If you live in the US, you already have a step up on just about everyone else in the world. You live in a country where it’s easy to start a business. (Voila! Start a business. You’re done) You can take a business opportunity and make it as big as you want to. You have an infrastructure that protects the entrepreneur. Compare that to a country where the government might suddenly decide to nationalize your industry or the banks and you lose everything. Or worse yet, there are limited civil liberties and you can be arrested for saying something negative about someone.
I’m blogging this right now at 4 am. I’ve been up most of the night because someone my family cares about a lot is missing in Mexico. He was the director of the orphanage David came from. He’s the man who discovered David at the “bad’ orphanage where he had been locked in a tiny room under the stairs for a year. (no window, no light, no bathroom)
Last Thursday, Mexican “police?” came to his home and told him they were taking him to a hearing. He went with them. (The hearing was regarding a girl at the orphanage) Later DIF (like our CPS) called and asked why he never made it to the hearing. He’s missing. And in Mexico, that rarely turns out well.
In the US, we have certainty. We know that we have certain rights and as much as we rail against changes like the Patriot Act, the fact that we can protest is evidence that we live in a much safer world.
So, how does this translate to building a business? When times are scary, leaders are born.
Being fearless is just being without fear. Courage is acting when you feel fear.
Heroes don’t come from single acts of amazing stunts. Heroes are the people who get up every day, keep their head up and continue putting one foot in front of the other. Stay present. This is where you are. Everything could change, for good or for bad, in an instant. So, none of the guessing matters anyway.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:06 am
Oh my.
This is very worrisome.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:20 am
Any news? I hope the outcome is positive, and will keep him in my prayers.
How’s David coping with the news?
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 am
Thank you both.
There is a lot of support rallying. Friends from Florida are driving over with the motorhome as we speak. They plan to stay until they can find him and get all the kids back together that were at the orphanage. They were “scattered” to various places and now DIF has lost track. There were about 25 kids. I think that’s what is bothering David the most. We are purposely NOT going down because I’m concerned how rational David might be. All adoptions have been stopped. There is clearly something political in the landscape.
His daughter made a quick call and said “We found him.” She said he was alive and then said “I’ve got to go.” And now we haven’t heard from her for two days either. She was in LA at the time, so maybe she’s traveling as well.
Andres, I know you spent part of your lifetime in another country and so can perhaps understand a little better how much personal liberty we have here in the US and how much certainty that there is generally consistency in our laws. That just doesn’t exist everywhere else. I lived 3 months in Juarez. It was only 3 months, but changed my world viewpoint forever.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Yeah, I noticed when I was last doing a list of priorities for where to live, that I didn’t even put down “personal safety”.
We just assume nobody is going to shoot at us, or break into our home.
I had listed “good library district”, but that pre-supposes you can go outside and walk freely!
We went through years of international adoption moratoriums, waiting to be told adoptions were allowed again.
Meanwhile the poor kids were waiting, waiting, waiting.
July 4th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Diane, yes, I do understand what you are talking about when talking about taking liberties for granted. I try to remind myself everyday that here in the U.S.
I’ve seen close friends “disappear”, just to be found dead days later, or not even been found ever again.
When I see the news about how “difficult” the situation is these days here in the U.S. I try to keep things in perspective. As you mentioned before, we here don’t have real problems (I’m sorry, I can’t come of thinking that not been able to buy the newest 2009 model vehicle is not a problem). If this year is not the one when we grow more than ever and take advantage of the many opportunities out there, then when?
July 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Andres, I heard this referred to as the “risotto recession” and “Starbucks slowdown.”
I think I make the best risotto around and I don’t like Starbucks anyway. So, no change here!
For this holiday weekend, though, we’re not going anywhere. We spent last night in our backyard pool (after the sun goes down in 110+ temperatures) and will barbecue at home later today.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Update from Juarez, Mexico. We heard last night that it was not true that our friend had been found. I’m not quite sure why we got the message that he had, but I wasn’t about to question his daughter too much.
As of today, he’s been missing for 10 days. He was last seen in the company of police, going to a hearing. He never made it to the hearing The family has hired a lawyer who has gone to all of the area jails and was not able to find him. The official report from the police is that they know nothing about this and did not pick him up.
The orphanage was in a little village called San Augustin on the outskirts of Juarez. They are quite a distance from the drug cartel battles that have been reported in downtown Ciudad Juarez. He did make some enemies from families when children were taken away from abusive families and put in his orphanage, awaiting the outcome of dealing with the abusers.
Other than that, no one has any idea on what is going on. I can only imagine how hard the uncertainty is for his family.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Diane, any news?
July 11th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Thanks for checking Andres.
It was 2 weeks yesterday and no news. I know that they are trying to find the kids to bring back to the orphanage. If you’d like to see the place, it’s http://www.lanuevavida.com. Last I checked, there were still photos up. Almost all of the kids were in some stage of adoption and that’s all been stopped. Sergio is the man you see with the mustache.
We are purposely not going down there. I think it would be too hard for David. He is mourning the loss of Sergio plus reliving some past terrors with the missing children.
I don’t want to think the worst for Sergio. But, Andres, I know you’re from Latin America and you know what “missing, last seen with police” can mean.