Listening to President Obama’s speech today the words that struck me most (and there were several that held my attention) were:  “On this day we have gathered because we have chosen hope over fear.” It has felt for so many months that the only news was bad news, that things just got worse and worse. And while I don’t expect him to single-handedly fix everything…at least not by the end of next week…I do feel a bit hopeful that some things will be better. Maybe the stock market will rally…maybe some people’s homes will be saved from foreclosure, maybe there will be more jobs available, maybe people will work together for common goals, maybe people will just be kinder to each other.

So how long does this honeymoon last? How much time do we give this administration to show progress before we fall back into our negativity and divisiveness? Maybe if we each try to do one kind thing a day, collectively we can make a difference. Maybe collectively we can keep the sense of hopelessness and despair at bay while the big problems are being worked on.

We can make it together.   We can choose hope.