Over the last few months I have been completely and unapologetically focused on myself, and my company’s growth. This past Friday I was happy to announce Argo Marketing’s expansion of its customer service functions to Pittsfield, Maine, and our plans to hire 50 people within 30 days. A lot of people I know questioned why I would do something as foolish as taking on more liability and risk in the middle of a great recession! Well, my answer is simple: The recession is over. Now, my father used to tell me that “…a recession is when your neighbor looses his job and a depression is when you lose your job,” so, to all those people out there who are still looking, keep your chin up – the worst is behind us.

I am starting to see news stories here and there, amid the clutter that is the daily news cycle, such as, “Higher than expected retail numbers,” or better yet, “Lowest unemployment filing numbers in two years.”

Just recently, I read a fascinating article about how the U.S. auto industry is producing cars that people actually want, and, not surprising to anyone who believes in free markets, people are buying them in record numbers.

These examples, and other bits of happy news, are much more than we have seen in some years. People are tired of being afraid and of being a second-class society and, frankly, we want to pursue happiness again. It’s time for recovery.

Recovery will come, and I believe that the recovery phase will last just as long as the recession did. For example, one of the largest sectors in this economy, real estate, might take years to rebound to prerecession building and selling levels, but I believe it’s uphill from here for real estate.

During this time, we are, admittedly, at our most vulnerable to outside influences that can derail our recovery, and the jobs that will come with it. For example, the chaos in Europe is not our fault, and there is practically nothing we can do to help countries undo their crises, yet it could very well hurt our economy if the European Union allows countries like Greece and Italy to default to the private banks to which they owe so much money.

The idea that a financial meltdown over 4,000 miles away can hurt our recovery process scares me. But, the lesson it teaches, and it is a lesson we must desperately learn, is that if government kicks the proverbial “can” down the road by neglecting the real issues of today, then economic disaster will haunt us forever. And, next time, things could be much worse.

Learning this lesson will be an exercise in overcoming fear. Fear will drive us into a recession, or prevent us from recovering from one. Fear is also a political tactic used to win elections. Guess what? We are in an election year, and fear is very much a tactic being used by both sides. To add insult to injury, in Maine we are dealing with a supplemental budget and a governor who is trying to address a serious shortfall in the Health and Human Services budget.

Call it the last, dying breath of the previous administration and those special interest groups, those far-left organizations that have hijacked what was once a respectful political organization, the Democratic Party, and “occupied” it for some years now. The yelling, name calling, rumor mongering, and absolute failure to have civil discourse and work through issues is worse than wrong. Personally, I need them to really work on the issues at hand in order to find ways to fund the programs that are needed by our most vulnerable, those with mental disabilities and the elderly.

So here is my simple comment to the far-left “occupiers” of the Democratic party. STOP! The funding of DHHS is not about winning elections in November; it is about finding ways to help those who need help without crippling our economic recovery. All Mainers, including Republicans, need you to work with the administration and Republican members of the Legislature, and come up with new ideas and compromises, versus tossing sound bite grenades to score political points.

Recession, recovery and fear…oh my! is right.  In three years we get to experience all three in massive doses. The measure of a person is how we adapt and overcome adversity, not how long we cower in a hole and ignore the issues. This holiday season let’s rejoice with family and friends and, amongst other things, celebrate a victory —  our ability to overcome recession, weather a recovery and hopefully to deny fear the ability to disrupt our plans to pursue happiness.

Happy holidays to you and yours.