Writes Karin Christensen:

Hi Lew,

I think we need to be more optimistic. Falling into despair because things are not the way they used to be is playing right into their hands. I don’t understand the reason behind their destruction of the joys we once knew, but they have. If it didn’t happen this way it would have happened another way, just maybe not as quickly.

Fight against them by being positive. Look for opportunities to learn and find something new including within yourself.

Not long ago I listened to a financial advisor, I can’t remember which one, I listen to so many, but he said he sees this as an opportunity. It doesn’t have to be all bad. People will figure out all kinds of unique ways to survive, invent things we had not thought of before. These days it is so rare to hear anything positive from anyone. He is right.

Is learning to cook in your own home such a bad thing? There are people who saw the opportunity and now earn a good living making YouTube videos on how to cook – an enjoyable skill most have lost. If we can’t support the local restaurant we can support the people making videos. They have found a way to make the best of it. Plus, food you make at home is more healthy, tastes better, cheaper and if you grow at least a little bit of it – very satisfying. Have a picnic in your back-yard, or in a park, if you are tired of being indoors.

Since I have a large garden which fills me with pride and joy – and food, I watch a lot of YouTubes videos on gardening while waiting for the sun to come up. This morning I watched a guy who was full of exuberant excitement with what he has accomplished in 8 years turning a ho-hum normal back yard into a forest of food.

My mornings are spent harvesting and preserving my produce. Instead of feeling depressed or fearful, on the contrary I feel like I have done something about it when the pantry fills up. It’s a good feeling.

Your neighbors aren’t gone. My neighbors are not close by because of where I live but we get together usually to tour gardens, get tips on what grows here best, exchange seedlings and vegetables. I have a friend who has a large ranch a few hours away. We used to meet once a month or so in the small town about halfway between and have breakfast at a restaurant. Now, we cook something and meet in the park and eat there. If the weather is bad I fashion a table out of the top of a cooler on the bench-seat of my old truck and we eat there. I honestly enjoy that experience better than the restaurant.

Stay healthy, keep your weight down, get lots of fresh air and sunshine, take your supplements (thank you Sardi and Mercola), and eat quality food (grow it yourself if at all possible) then you don’t need a primary physician. They will just try to get you on every pharmaceutical drug out there to the detriment of your health. Be your own “health care” provider since your physician doesn’t care about your health.

Is there someplace you need to fly to that has something you can’t find in your own backyard? Why flee to the inside of a building to insulate yourself from the world? Why not make your world a positive place. Watch birds, grow flowers. Be a part of the world, make your world a good place even if only what seems to be an insignificant way. It will make a big difference.

With any kind of luck maybe more people will come out of this with a deeper sense of accomplishment and understanding of what is really important in life. There has to be hope of something good at the end of the tunnel but we have to make it happen. “They” will not do it for us.

I am not afraid or depressed. It is a little scary, for certain, but I am going to survive and not let them take away my love of life and accomplishment. Bring on the challenge. If they smash it down in one place, I will just pop up and enjoy it in some other way. I will not let them win.