Fighting Beside Seneca

Every day you are breathing presents you with opportunities. Is this day unique? In the sense that more than 100k people in the United States (& 650k people around the world) are sick with a novel virus for which we have no vaccine, limited testing, and this fact has many of us sheltered at home… sure. But otherwise, no. Battles are being fought every day. If you’re lucky, those battles are limited to you battling you. The reality, however, is that we are almost two decades into non-stop war in the Middle East. Lest we forget, lives are still being lost in Iraq & Afghanistan. First responders and medical professionals are getting dressed for work knowing that, for some, their very life may be on the line that day. And many are almost certain to be face-to-face with the deaths of others before their shift ends. Those living in poverty are likely not able to prepare effectively for this pandemic, much less share jokes on social media about the lack of toilet paper and other...

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? You probably give yourself credit for being a realist. You see it. You get it. The problems and challenges of this world… you understand them. You’re actively predicting the future in your own head. Well, if so, that means you’re likely doing a rather poor job of two key things that can seriously impact the quality of your life… 1) living in the present moment & 2) focusing on what you can control. Are there challenges in the world, in our country, today, right now? Yes. Plenty. Is that new? No. But this is different? Crumbling financial markets, a growing pandemic; the world has never seen such as this. Never? Just try to imagine the world of roughly 100 years ago. World War I rages, followed by the Spanish flu, then Prohibition and the related violence, the Twenties roar, then the stock market crashes precipitating the Great Depression. Wow! All of that in a span of about 20 years, that was then followed by World War II. This is not to m...