There is no plan to change the world

Sad, isn't it?

Because really, there should be.

There should be some sort of plan that involves creating more peace and less war; more jobs and less poverty; more opportunity and less despair; more health and less pain; more flowers and less smog. You know? A plan to change the world.

Well, since there's not, we'll all just have to wing it, huh? I figure I can try to do my part by cutting down on the things I do that hurt the economy, the environment, and the people around me. I can do my part by cutting down on the things I do that hurt me, too.

I can also talk about things that other people are doing--either to help or hurt. I can let my readers (if there ever are any *g*) know what they might be able to do to help.

Yes, yes, yesterday was the beginning of a new era. Barack Obama called us all to action and blah, blah, blah. Wonderful. Words have been said. And more will be said--including by me.

But maybe, just maybe, if we all do a few things, we can actually be that change we wish to see in the world, as Gandhi said. Maybe, even without a plan, we can change the world anyway--stumble into a better future by concentrating on what we can do to help ourselves and each other now.

My first goal this year has been fiscal responsibility. How much money do you really need to live comfortably? And what does living comfortably mean, anyway? This is what I will be talking about for a while. Until something shiny comes along, or I get tired of being virtuous, or I decide that I really can't live within my means. Don't laugh at that last comment. Lots of people in this world can't live within their means. They don't have the means.

More on that and a lot of other things later. For now, go read Barack Obama's Inaugural Address. It's full of rhetoric and powerful thoughts and hard truths. We're not the people we could be (and that goes for all people, not just Americans).

But we could be.