“It’s a gloomy moment in the history of our country. Not in the lifetime of most people has there been so much grave and deep apprehension. The domestic economic situation is in chaos. The dollar is weak around the world. Prices are so high as to be utterly impossible. The political caldron seethes and bubbles with uncertainty. A foreign power hangs, as usual, like a cloud–dark and silent upon the horizon. It’s a solemn moment. Of our troubles, no one can see the end.” 
Does that sound familiar? Believe it or not that article was written in October 1857, just four years before the Civil War. There were all kinds of problems, poor crops, bank closures, social problems, business failures, people in America faced. Just eight years earlier cholera claimed more than 150,000 victims in the United States during the two pandemics between 1832 and 1849, and also claimed 200,000 victims in Mexico. Problems have a way of always being part of our lives.
Come to think of it, not much has changed.
Yes, there are very grave world problems, with COVID-19 there is a world-wide pandemic, domestic issues that cannot be ignored, health issues with yourself or loved ones, to name just a few. However, my suggestion is spend less time watching and reading the online news. “Be aware, be prepared ”-but not “overwhelmed” or paralyzed by it. Spend more time thinking about what we have going right. Spend more time appreciating your health, your loved ones and your career. Invest in yourself through books and training programs. Expect more bumps in the road, a few dead ends and above all expect to get through them-and learn something from the whole experience of this thing called life.
