Marshall Ramsey

1. The latest West Nile news has us all on edge — two more deaths in Mississippi and 19 more cases. I’ve always sworn that “Mississippi” is Native American for “thick and swarming with mosquitoes.” Now, with the huge spike in cases of West Nile, I’m now cognisant of each and every one. Last night, at midnight, one was buzzing in my ear. My wife and I threw on the lights and poured out of the bed.  We darned near burned the house down to kill the little bugger.  West Nile, a disease with the devastating effects and randomness of Polio, appeared in 1999 in the U.S.  I haven’t treated a mosquito the same since.
2. Drove to Itawamba Community College yesterday afternoon. That’s about 3 1/2 hours from my home. So I drove seven hours of driving for three hours of radio.  Add to it, six hours at The Clarion-Ledger.  Yesterday was a 16-hour day.  And I quit caffeine two months ago.  So last night’s drive home was a white-knuckler.  I’m glad I get up and run everyday. It helps me keep going every single day.  But I thank all the folks at Itawamba CC –What a really great place.  And Fulton is a pretty little Mississippi town.
3. Another friend has been touched by cancer. I say this with no reservations — cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me. My friend will have a positive outcome. I know he will find that he’ll feel the same way. It makes life much shinier and brighter when you’re a survivor.
4. It’s two months until the Presidential election. The darkness will get darker before the dawn.  But the next step is the Presidential Debates. Watch them and vote with your heart and conscience. I just pray that Americans watch them instead of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.  But I find my hopes get dashed more and more these days.

You know it’s election season when you hear the tried and true saying, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

It’s back and when I heard it yesterday, I paused for a moment and reflected.

It has been a wild four years. I’ll admit that. And I’ll tell  you in a minute if I am or am not better off but let me say this: The President of the United States — whether is it is George W. Bush or Barack Obama — have very little to do with my  success or failure.

Now, before you start arguing with me, I understand the President could press the nuclear button. That would have an impact on my life in about 15 minutes. And I understand the President (and Congress) can take actions that screw up the economy.  But my point is this: I don’t wake up with President Obama (or Bush or Clinton or Reagan or Bush or Carter or Roosevelt) sitting on my chest keeping me from getting out of bed in the morning and working hard. That’s up to me. Because my success is largely determined by the choices I make on a daily basis. And how I react to the situation I’m thrust into.

I work harder than I did four years ago and my career has changed considerably. Sure, I miss my old life sometimes. And I would not have asked for some of the things that have happened to me or my family.  But then again, if those changes hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have discovered new talents and enjoyed better successes.  Sometimes I have succeeded. Sometimes I failed.  But I don’t blame anyone else for my situation.  That rests solely on the face I see when I shave in the morning.  I refuse to blame someone else for my problems.

So am I better off than I was four years ago? The honest answer is yes. And it’s because I now realize that my chances of success come from my friends, faith, family and from within, not from some person in office.