VIEWPOINT Volume 55, No. 2 November 2012 Contact us: www.ohioruralelectric.coop Thankfulness for resilience BY A N T H O N Y J. A H E R N THE PROTRACTED SLOW RECOVERY of our nation’s economy — much of it related to lingering recessionary aftereffects but some of it the result of unwise policy decisions — has reduced income prospects for many individuals and families. Their stress levels have been elevated. Some are struggling to just hang on. With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, a positive boost to our perspective seems quite in order. I would like to offer one. People have resilience: the ability to re- cover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Anthony Ahern Steve Oden Rich Warren John Howley Chris Hall Bernice Mattison Nikki Heath Adam Specht Margie Wuebker Chip Gross Sandy Woolard Tim Dickes President & CEO Dir. of Comm. Managing Editor Editor Art & Prod. Manager Publications Coord. Graphic Artist Comm. Specialist Food Editor Outdoors Editor Advertising Advertising COUNTRY LIVING (ISSN 0747-0592) is the official publication of Ohio Rural Electric Co- operatives, Inc. With a paid circulation of 294,786, it is the monthly communication link between the rural elec tric cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia and their members. Subscription price: $4.30 to $6.50 per year to co-op members; $12 per year to nonmem- bers. Nothing in this publication may be re- produced in any manner without specific written permission from Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. All rights reserved. No doubt our nation still faces challenging times. For not-so-uplift- ing perspectives on the national outlook, one just has to compare what each of the presidential campaigns says about the other party’s economic platform. But if any nation on earth is uniquely positioned to draw on the well of resilience, it has to be the United States. We have the rule of law. We elect our government leaders. We have political freedom. We have an economic system that allows comebacks. We have the positive environment for ideas to flourish. Perhaps most important, we have a society where individuals are not constrained by the situations into which they are born and where the best efforts of individuals can lift us all. We are a nation that has been enriched by the diverse backgrounds that we all come from. Human beings persevere, they strive and they rebound. This is how challenges are faced and overcome. In our country, we have an ideal environment for people to exercise resilience. We can be thankful that resilience is somehow coded into human DNA, and we can hope that for many it is a dominant gene. (On a side note, there is something else for which we can be thank- ful. The 2012 presidential election is November 6, and soon the media ads and robo-calls will stop.) 2 COUNTRY LIVING • NOVEMBER 2012 National advertising representatives: NATIONAL COUNTRY MARKET, based at 611 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78704 1-800-NCM-1181 The fact that a product is advertised in Country Living should not be taken as an endorsement. If you find an ad- vertisement misleading or a product unsatisfactory, please notify us or the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection Section, 30 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215, or call 1-800-282-0515. Cooperative members — Please report any change of address to your local electric cooperative. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, OH and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to editorial and advertising offices at: 6677 Busch Boulevard Columbus, OH 43229-1101 Telephone — 614-846-5757 Serving on the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., Board of Trustees are George Brake, chairman; Dennis W. Schindler, vice chairman; Jack Schmidt, secretary/treasurer; Charles Grimes, Paul Berridge, Thomas McQuiston, Robert McCort, Donald McCracken, Jack L. Kitchel, Daniel McNaull, Robert E. Wise, Shirley J. Stutz, David Corbin, Barry Jolliff, Warren Taylor, James R. McConnell, Eugene Royer, Mitch Headley, John Saxton, Edward P. Sanders, Harold E. Cooper, Larry Weirich, Jeff Wilson and David P. Miller. Anthony J. Ahern, president; Kurt Helfrich, counsel.