Saying goodbye to ‘one of those years’

Have you ever had one of those years? For some, “one of those years” is just a phrase that you hear pundits, colleagues and friends throwing around in their empathetic attempt to define/rationalize 2009. For others, you have just lived out one of those years and keep looking at your watch – a la sitting through a bad movie – waiting for 2009 to close and for 2010 to arrive.

If you sat me down and asked me to do an immediate word association with 2009, I would say hardship.

For some, hardship came in the form of endless months of unemployment (with still no end of that full-time job in sight). For others, hardship came in the form of surrendering a loved one to yet another tour of duty in the Middle East. For some, it came in the form of actually losing a loved one.

For others, it came in the form of a bad medical prognosis and all of the anxiety and trepidation that naturally follows. For some, it was the worry of making a mortgage payment month after month. For others, it was nothing financial, just personal – a broken marriage, a struggling child, a lonely bout.

Yes, for many, 2009 was just one of those years — and, then, there was the atrocious economy to compound it. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. Maybe it was the atrocious economy of 2009 that aggravated everything else into a difficult and complicated mess-of-a-year. Either way, it was rough, and so I applaud everyone who has trudged through it. Bravo.

A cycle

Now, about you. To all of you who have had one of those years, rest assured that there are bound to be better times ahead very soon — actually, in 2010. No, this is not based on anything astrological, evangelical or ecumenical. It’s based on the promise of all things cyclical.

Obviously, given that you are reading a political blog site, you don’t need to be reminded that economic trends are cyclical, as are political trends. We go from boom to bust to boom to bust, from George to Bill to George to Barack.

But let’s leave what is comfortable aside and think about nature, patterns and life in general. At the most simplistic level, think about time, think about the shape of the face of your clock, think about the roundness of the numbers and actual time that encompasses 60 seconds. Think about the way we breathe — 02 in, C02 out; 02 in C02 out.

Think about photosynthesis. Think about rain patterns. Think about biodegradable bags. Think about love and what a wedding band is supposed to symbolize. Eternity.

Look up, look up, look up

In theory, cycles and circles are supposed to go round and round forever. Yes, there will be ups and downs along the way, but the circle is never ending. I take peace in the thought that most things just naturally find a way to correct and continue, correct and continue.

So in the spirit of correction and continuing – here’s to you. Here’s to 2010.

And, to everyone who has hurt this year, to everyone who has shed a tear and asked or screamed “Why?” – look up, look up, look up. When you do, your tears will roll down and your eyes will see the light above you, whether it’s a big sun or a tiny star.

Lenti currently works as a policy consultant and advisor to Republican Party leaders, executives and candidates. She has worked in New Mexico and other states on presidential and congressional races and has a background in national security. Contact her at sarah.lenti@gmail.com.