Believe it or not (and my guess is you may believe it😂), I am asked this question by students and executives in my classes and talks almost every day.

First of all, I am the first to admit things are pretty crazy. There are an infinite number of examples, and more get added every day. Here’s just a few of them:

  • We seem to be in a war with Iran, but we are told it’s really not a war.
  • We have supposedly “obliterated” Iran’s military, but Iran seems to be firing more missiles everywhere every day
  • We have elected a new attorney general who supported setting up a $1.8 billion for people “mistreated on January 6th”😱
  • We have a Congress that is well aware there’s a lot of crazy things going on, but they are more focused on getting reelected than exhibiting true leadership.
  • Both parties are supporting candidates for office accused of serious crimes (including sexual harassment ….and how about one with a swastika tattoo 😳😳😳) supposedly because the ends justify the means (Really? Doesn’t sound like values based leadership).
  • There was something this week about somebody supposedly cutting up the new blue liner in the reflection pool that never really occurred. (I still don’t understand that one, but let’s not let the facts get in the way😱)
  • And of course, let’s not forget our President still wanting to make Canada the 51st state, taking control of Greenland, and destroying our relationship with NATO and other allies around the world

OK, the obvious question is how do I stay positive?

First of all, I rely on my religious faith and daily self-reflection that teaches me there are only two things I should focus on in order to minimize worry, fear, anxiety, pressure and stress:

1) Do the right thing.

2) Do the best I can do the short time I am on this earth.

Second, I remind myself of what I learned by reading Stephan Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He explains that many people have a very large circle of concern that contains a small circle of influence within the larger circle. He states that we should shrink the circle of concern and significantly increase the circle of influence within that circle. In essence, if you cannot do something to influence the situation, what is the benefit of being concerned? I challenge my students that rather than watching the movie, get in the movie!! Do something about it or stop talking about it.

Third, I find it helpful to put things in perspective. Yes there are a lot of problems and issues right now. However, when I hear people say that things have never been this bad, I wonder if they’ve ever taken a history class. If you look it up, things were not too great during the black plague in Europe, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and many other time periods too numerous to mention.

I am certainly not trying to make light of the current crazy situation, but I think putting things into perspective can help us achieve some balance so that we can focus on doing something about it rather than talking about it. Yes, our current democratic system has issues that need to be addressed. Nonetheless, when I hear people say we should start all over again, let’s remember that didn’t turn out so well in Russia and China.

My personal opinion is we should work to improve our current system by making sure we get our three branches of government working the way they are supposed to. I think this makes more sense then turning to socialism or communism for the answer. However, in terms of balance, let’s not take for granted the 250 years of the longest democracy in history. We could destroy it if we are not careful.

In closing, if we all make sure that our elected government officials focus more on doing the right thing, rather than worrying about being reelected, we can definitely improve the current situation And by the way, since we still have a democratic system, maybe we should all make sure we focus on electing officials who we believe will do the right thing…..hmm, seems like common sense, which always reminds me of one of my favorite quotes that is attributed to Mark Twain: “Everything is common sense, but common sense is not common.”😂