It's all in how you look at it.

At this very moment, I am staring out of the window of my office seeking divine inspiration. Actually, I am searching for something positive to discuss in this month's column. At least on the surface, I am finding it very difficult.

What's making the headlines these days? Of course, there is Bill and Monica (never mind). Then there is the Asian crisis (this too shall pass; the sooner the better). How about the turbulent stock market with the doom and gloomer's dire predictions about the economy? (This causes me to remember Will Rogers' comment that "An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's.") Besides, the "bears" were bound to be right one of these years.

Then there are the elections, right? (I'm writing this prior to the November 3 elections and the only thing that comes to mind here is the late Charles de Gaulle remark that "Since a politician never believes what he says, he is always astounded when others do.")

The only two things very noticeable to me about the elections this year are the campaign ads. I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Chicago it is amazing how few of the candidates are bothering to mention their party affiliation (no, I am not going to discuss Bill and Monica). The other thing I've noticed about many of the ads is the fact that they are so focused on beating up on the opponent that they are leaving it up to us to guess who is sponsoring the ad. (I guess they don't want to tell us who to vote for, just who not to vote for.)

What about sports? There has to be something positive there. Well, I'm not finding the football season very interesting. I'm a Univ. of Michigan fan on Saturdays (they lost their first two games of the season) and on the pro level I follow either the Lions or Bears, depending upon the weekend, who have a combined winning percentage of .307 as of this writing.

Then there's the NBA lockout. Oh, good. Millionaire superstars and self-centered owners trying to negotiate a contract that is a "win-win" situation for both. Of course, they "win-win" and the fans "lose-lose." You would think that they would have learned from the screw-ups of both the NFL and Major League Baseball.

This only serves to remind me of a comment describing the former pro defensive lineman Alonzo Spellman who apparently went off the deep end last year and is out of the league at the ripe old age of 25: "Physically, he's a world beater. Mentally, he's an eggbeater."

It occurs to me that I'm succumbing to cynicism. This is not good. It's just too easy to be a cynic. I've promised myself that I would not let this happen. So I'm fighting it. So, what has happened in recent months that brought me and a whole bunch of other people some simple joy - something that we could focus on that took us away from all of this other stuff?

I found it in sports. It was the McGwire-Sosa home run race. For at least a month or more, this event mesmerized the nation. People who don't even know what a sac fly is were talking about it. For many days, it was headline news, moving all that "other stuff" further down the page.

But I'm not sure it was the race itself that enraptured the country. I think it was more the way it was carried out. Mark McGwire embracing his son as he crossed home plate when he tied and passed Roger Maris' record. Sammy Sosa running in from right field to hug McGwire. Pure class and a lot of fun. Two players who took their game seriously, not themselves. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of speaking before the St. Louis Chapter of AFS. Before I started the presentation, I asked them if they, in St. Louis, were as proud of Mark McGwire as we, in Chicago, were of Sammy Sosa. Their response was more than a little overwhelming. Everyone had fun.

So, you see, if we choose to, we can find something positive in nearly everything. For me, the Bill and Monica saga serves to remind that our leaders are not always perfect, but we do have to demand of them responsibility for moral as well as political leadership. The Asian crisis brings home the fact that the U.S. is not an island unto itself. The current stock market situation reflects the fact that we can never rest on our past success. As for the elections, as Dwight Eisenhower said, "Politics should be the part-time profession of every citizen."

You see, it's all in the way you look at it. Football became a little more interesting when the Lions beat the Packers the other night. As for the NBA lockout, well, if they're not playing, at least this reduces the chances of a coach getting choked. Oops, I guess I still have a way to go.