This is a struggling family from the Great Depression of 1929:

80 years later…this is a family from the Great Recession of 2009:

What’s the difference? One is in color, the other is not? Hardly. Sure, we’re smack dab in the middle of the worst economic times we’ve ever seen. But in comparison to 1929, are things really that bad? Very few even had a job back then and there were NO unemployment checks and health benefits to help out. Government provided meager food rations to each family but it was hardly enough to sustain them. If they were lucky enough to get a piece of meat they saved the bones, fat and gristle to be used down the road. They saved and ate parts of vegetables and fruits that we would find inedible today. If a neighbor was in need, they shared what little they had. Shoes were considered a luxury, so they wore the same pair, tacking old pieces of cardboard or material over the holes. When the rice was gone, the container was reused. Communities bound themselves tightly together, determined to pull everyone safely to the other side. And during all of this….they remained thankful.

And where are we at today? Crime is on the rise, neighbors are fighting with each other, people are trampled to death for the sake of commerce. Our country has an epidemic of obesity, so we’re certainly not starving. The homeless shelters and soup kitchens today would have been luxurious back then. There has been a steep rise in the amount of prescribed anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. When our pants rip or buttons fall, we throw them into the back of the closet and go get something else. We’re certainly not thankful; if anything, we’re demanding and feel we’re entitled.

I’ve heard countless religious leaders and community leaders declare this is all God’s doing. God’s way of showing us who’s boss. I hardly think that’s the case. God is merciful and just. Remember? No….I’m sure God is the saddest among us. WE are what got us here. Our selfishness, our ruthless greed. Our inability to be thankful for what we have instead of complaining about what we DON’T have.

Things have a way of righting themselves. It’s the law of nature. Kind of like beating a dog. You can keep flogging it and flogging it…and eventually it will turn on you with a vengeance. Life is pretty much the same way. Maybe the great lesson in all of this is humility and simplicity. Maybe we’re being forced as a nation to remember our roots…what’s truly important.

There is great truth in the famous saying, “Life is what you make it.” Even in the worst of times, a positive mindset has a way of turning an ordinary brick into a bar of gold. So instead of thinking about what you’re missing…try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.