A New Dawn

The other day I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about the election (like almost everyone else) and my friend mentioned how it looked like we had a real opportunity to restore a positive image of our country in the world. I reflected that I found myself feeling really happy for a change, like a heavy malaise had been lifted. Thinking about this discussion later it seemed like a new dawn had begun.

Like so many millions of others following the election I was deeply moved by the sense of promise that had been awakened across not only our country, but also around the world. This morning as I read the paper I came across Paul Krugman’s editorial. The Nobel Prize winning economist began by saying, “Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, is a date that will live in fame forever. If the election of our first African-American president didn’t stir you, if it didn’t leave you teary-eyed and proud of your country, there’s something wrong with you.”

That is exactly how I felt. I am so proud of our fellow Americans that we could see through the haze of despondency and fear and elect a person as president who has the calm, thoughtful demeanor to set us on a new path toward personal and social reconstruction. We may not all have voted for President Barack Obama, but he is now the president for us all. He is the one faced with the task of setting our course for at least the next four years. He will need all the help he can get. So far, it seems to me he is doing a pretty good job of surrounding himself with the wise, energetic and positive people necessary to getting that job done.

It’s a new dawn! I for one am going to enjoy basking in the sunlight of that dawn and the promise of the new day it portends.