Obama and change

It's impossible to miss the inauguration of the new US President Barack Obama in the news. His campaign mantra was "change" although what changes he is planning to make are less clear.

The one million people lining the streets of Washington however, felt the need and desire for that change. It is in situations like these where we see how clearly, that emotions are more powerful than logic.

In any contest between logic and emotion, logic will lose. For much of the time, when the emotion is anxiety or fear this stops us being all we can be. Logic may tell us that we have skills and resources that we can use to achieve our goals, but if fear gets in the way we will often feel paralysed and unable to make a step forward.

Today however the emotions are positive; hope is filling the USA in a situation where many people are struggling to keep their jobs or pay their bills. This time, that ability of the emotion to overwhelm logic is a wonderful thing. Just possibly this hope will enable people to look past the difficulties of the immediate situation and use all their resources to achieve a brighter future.