“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction.”

Abraham Lincoln ~ 1858

There is no doubt that we hear more bad news than good these days. Every few minutes it seems I am reminded that we are facing a recession bordering on a depression. Financially, things aren’t looking good for any of us.

Yet today the hot topic as far as search engines go is the word, oniomaniac, which means an uncontrollable desire to buy things. Yes, in other words a shopoholic. At the same time we hear people complaining about the economy, they are seeking to define a word that has to do with spending money you don’t need to spend.

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One of the things that never ceases to fascinate me are the cycles people go through over and over. All of our lives have a rhythm, life goes up, and it goes down. Our relationships have cycles, our jobs have cycles, our moods have cycles.

When we are in an up cycle, life is good, everything is great, and it is easy to keep thinking positive. Then we reach the top of the peak, and things slowly start sliding downhill. People always seem to be surprised when this happens, and the fact that they are surprised always surprises me.

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I was sent an excellent Squidoo lens on philosophy today. I got lost there for hours, reading and watching videos. If that sort of thing interests you, I highly encourage you to visit, and weigh in on the various discussions.

I’ve never formally studied philosophy, but I do find it fascinating. Psychology, sociology, religion, they are all related, intertwined in the human brain. Your mind can go around in circles for hours, days, even years and never really find an answer. I decided long ago there probably isn’t one real answer for everybody on the planet, but that has never stopped me from looking for it.

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