IN MANY WAYS, the future is frightening. By their nature, people resist change. It is not comforting to know that economic conditions change so fast that most people will go from job to job to job during their careers, as today's skills turn into tomorrow's layoff notice. It's unsettling to realize knowledge expands so rapidly that schooling must become a life-long endeavor. Yet reality is what it is, and fear won't change it.
Fear can only paralyze people, and communities.
Expect the best of yourself. Demand the best in leaders. Aspire to higher goals, from economic success to social and political awareness. Never has the world been such an exciting place, with opportunities at every turn. It's a new year, a new century, a new millennium.