Lying in bed with tonsillitis the last few days I have digested more than my fair share of news. What an odd few days it's been. The world's financial markets have kept me entertained with banks disappearing overnight and share prices falling. There's been a lot of doom and gloom here in Denmark too. For example, yesterday I watched Danish Investor Morten Lund being interviewed about the collapse of the newspaper Nyhedsavisen. Having made millions as a 'serial entrepreneur' Lund now faces personal bankruptcy.
And then this morning, I wake up to an almost entirely positive front page news. Share prices bounce back after governmental intervention, optimism returns to Zimbabwe, a Welsh hill becomes a mountain overnight and perhaps the most heartening story of them all, an organic farm growing inside one of Kenya's slums.
Personally, I value the times in my life when things haven't gone according to plan. For example, the job that caused me the most difficulties inspired a new direction for my career. The difficult times I've faced as a parent, have helped me develop as an individual. There's always something positive you can take from a bad situation.
The general prognosis seems to be that this recession will be a long and drawn out affair and it looks like it will provide us with plenty of opportunities for reflection. There'll be a great many challenges in the years ahead and in a strange sort of way, I relish them. As Napoleon said, "adversity is the midwife of genius."
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