Article February 1, 2010 Issue

A FUTURE WITHOUT FEAR BEGINS TODAY

BY ROBIN HOAGLAND

Charles Dickens Certainly Captured the mood of tough times. One of his most famous characters stands in a gloomy, dark churchyard, holding a tense, one-sided conversation with the Future—a faceless, hooded, cloaked figure who remains eerily silent.

Ebenezer Scrooge's uneasy questioning is something most all of us can relate to. And while our own fears might not be penned by a great novelist, they are no less poignant: When will I hear from my daughter serving in Afghanistan? Is there any place to live that is safe from devastating storms or rising sea levels? Or random crimes and terror plots? And what about my health? How will I pay off my college debts? What are my career prospects in a "jobless recovery"? How do I manage my retirement without the finances I counted on?

Too often, there's a tendency in human reasoning to fill in what we don't know with worry, anxiety, worst-case scenarios, and plain old fear. It casts long shadows over hope and confidence, shrouds tomorrow in doubt, and leaves us feeling so very vulnerable to anything and everything that could go wrong.