“It’s a recession when your neighbor or friend loses his job,” Harry Truman once said, “and it’s a depression when you lose your own.”  

This lengthy pandemic has touched almost everyone we know, at least indirectly.  Millions of people have scaled down their expectations of what constitutes the good life and have redefined values and rearranged their priorities.  It is very easy to surrender to an emotional depression when your finances, health or the uncertainty of the future seems out of control.  Many have become pessimistic and depressed about tomorrow as so much right now seems quite bleak.  

We are still working our way out of this world-wide coronavirus, with many changes to our lifestyle that have been made.  But we can learn from what we have been through and become optimists instead of giving in to depression.  

We are surrounded by negativity every day, but optimism is a habit that can be learned by expecting something good to happen TODAY, no matter what happened yesterday.  The news media will only hold us captive in the negative zone if we let it.  The abundance or scarcity of money is not really what makes us independent or genuinely happy.  It is realizing that a simpler life with good health is what truly matters.  

In spite of all the suffering and growing pains our country is going through, we still enjoy a more affluent lifestyle than most people around the world. We may be experiencing tremendous challenges, but a depression is purely a matter of choice.

Don’t give in, as an abundant life awaits us all!