Thrive

It's Monday. It's rainy. It's cloudy and dark.
Once again.
But I'll resist the temptation to give in to pessimism today, especially after what was one of my darker posts on Friday. Today, instead, I'll allow myself to be inspired by words I heard in President Obama's speech to the National Academy of Sciences this morning.
I know, I know. Being inspired by a politician in office is not the appropriate response for someone with a journalist's background. Instead, our reflex is to doubt, maybe even sneer a little. We cross our arms and sit back, waiting for disappointment.
This is still my first reaction to anything coming out of a politician's mouth, and I know that some of my friends feel that way also. If it helps any, the thought in question isn't so much Obama's as it is Abe Lincoln's.
Obama talked about Lincoln's signing of the act creating the NAS, a time when the outcome of the Civil War was far from certain.
"Lincoln refused to accept that our nation's sole purpose was merely to survive," Obama said. He then went on to list Lincoln's optimistic agenda: land grant colleges and a transcontinental railroad.
"Even in the hardest times and against the toughest odds, we have never given in to pessimism; we have never surrendered our fates to chance; we have endured; we have worked hard; we have sought our new frontiers," Obama said.
That spoke to me today. Because that person who's thought is "merely to survive?" That's been me.
We got the first small paycheck since Mike was cut back last week, and it's...uh...it's.......yeah. It's grim.
There are still adjustments, of course. The lump sum "bridge payment" had so much withheld for taxes that the regular withholding will have to change. But....
So all weekend, I've been losing sleep over the idea of surviving.
How to not merely survive but thrive? That's a tough one. By taking on way more than I have time for? Working around the clock? Possibly. By applying for jobs I'm in no way qualified for? Probably.
But my grandmother and her family survived the Great Depression. I can, too.
Let the fun begin.