Am I the only one fed up with all of these mixed signals? Ihaven't been this confused since reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez ona Percocet high.

Just look at the headlines on own our site:

• US economy shrinks
• Private job survey shows stronger hiring
• Consumer confidence slips in January

And this is just from the last couple of days. I could go on andon. Each day's headlines seem to bring one side of the story or theother to the fore. Or both at once. And they say there's no balancein the media anymore. Hell, it's no wonder we're so collectivelydivided.

Seriously, though, this recovery's had more stops and startsthan my wife driving a stick shift. Is this the result ofwrong-headed policies, a lack of actual execution or is this—as Isuspect—simply our new economic reality? I'm no classically trainedeconomist—or even a very good home-schooled one—but ishyper-perpetual economic growth eternally sustainable?

Even China's showing signs of slowing down these days, so whathope do we have—especially since they already have most of our jobsanyway.

You hear a lot about uncertainty. And both parties shareresponsibility for that, whether it's Dodd-Frank (most of whichremains unimplemented), the Patient Protection and Affordable CareAct (which has been reaffirmed repeatedly) or the media inside jokewe call the fiscal cliff. No one wants to invest, do business orexpand because, simply put, no one knows what's going to happennext.

But that argument only works up to a point. And I'm a littletired of hearing that, too, by the way. Nobody promised youtomorrow. We all live—and work—under clouds of uncertainty everyday, but every once in while we get a silver lining.

And it's not like there aren't any certainties. In fact, do weeven need MSNBC or Fox News anymore? I mean, unless it's aboutimmigration, we know what each side's gonna say before they evensay it. The talking points have become rote recitations ofreductive reasoning – not to mention boring.

But as far as we're concerned, we know January brings themandates, exchanges and a flood of new customers. That much weknow. It's also a pretty safe bet the feds will change at leastsome of the rules as we go along. (And I can guarantee you; none ofthem will make it easier for you to business.)

To revisit Gabriel, he once said, “He who awaits much can expectlittle.” We can spend the rest of our lives waiting. Or we can getout there and make our own way. I don't expect much—at least formyself—but I know I'm sick of waiting.