Gordon Forgey

The current Time Magazine has an amazing photograph.

It is of a Great White shark breaching out of the water in an attempt to catch a small seal. The shark’s mouth is wide open and its teeth are extended. The seal is not in the shark’s mouth as one might expect, but stretched across its snout as if doing a circus act on a big ball. The little seal evaded the shark’s teeth only to ride its nose high into the air.

Many Americans over the last four years have been in a position like that little seal—trying desperately to save their lives in the face of extreme threats and challenges.

The housing bust. The financial collapse. Stock market losses. The shrinking job market and cutbacks in employment.

It has been a frightening ride for many. For others, it was worse than just frightening.

Yet, 2014 promises to be better.

The economy is on the rebound. Unemployment is dropping, although too many have been out of work for too long. The stock market is racking up all time highs. The housing market is improving.

Positive predictions about the nation’s future are becoming more common.

There are still sharks out there, and like so many that threatened us in the past, some are of our own making.

Still, we have put some behind us. This year many more threats can be put aside. Then, we should be in the position to take on those sharks we did not create.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher