By Herman Cain
The Gulf Coast states did not need another disaster to deal with, but the bad news just keeps on coming. People were killed when the British Petroleum oil platform exploded, along with what will be the worst oil spill in history.
As we hear the news each day about the difficulty in stopping the spread of the oil spill in the Gulf, and the impending dangers to wildlife, fisheries, businesses and the coastal states, we become more and more frustrated because there is nothing most of us can do individually to help the situation.
We can only pray for the people and agencies trying to remedy the situation, that they will have the resolve and resources to stop the spread of the impact of this disaster.
Consistent bad news leads to a bad attitude, lack of confidence and, eventually, failure. Just ask any high achiever in business, sports or any endeavor of life.
Since the summer of 2008, we have been fed a constant diet of more and more bad news about the economy, the credit crisis, the housing crisis, the recession, political scandals, a dysfunctional federal government, crooked politicians, crooked lenders, crooked borrowers and crooked executives.
We are constantly being reminded that it is going to take time to fix these problems, and that there are no quick fix solutions. We know that, but the Obama Administration and Congress continue to believe that they can spend us out of these problems. They can’t. The math does not work.
The president’s campaign promises about transparency, bipartisanship and no earmarks in legislation have been broken. And as the mainstream media looks the other way and tries to rationalize the broken promises, the informed voters get more and more frustrated, while the uninformed voters stay stuck on stupid.
Many voters are frustrated with both the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress, because they have failed to fix the real problems, as they continue to ignore lessons from history and the voting public.
As a result, many people are losing hope.
Last week President Obama issued a challenge to his supporters to help him re-elect Democrats to Congress so he can continue to “deliver on the promise of change, hope and prosperity.” I shared that with the listeners and asked them to share their feelings and opinions about change, hope and prosperity.
Only one caller out of about 20 thought the president was doing a wonderful job delivering change, hope and prosperity. But before I could ask him why he felt that way, he hung up. The other 19 callers totally disagreed and stayed on and gave reasons as to why, which we talk about nearly every night on the show.
The response by a 29-year-old first-time caller summed it up when she said, “This change is killing my hope for prosperity.”
I have not lost hope, because there are things we can do to capture the change people were hoping for but are not getting. We have our voices, our votes and our valuables (time and money) to work with.
For those that are losing hope I offer these “Ten Cans”:
You CAN have a life, just start somewhere. You CAN make a difference, one person at a time.
You CAN make things happen, don’t expect a straight line.
You CAN be happy, if you have a hope inside.
You CAN have love in your life, but look beyond the outside
You CAN solve your problems, but FIRST, count your blessings.
You CAN find the strength, like an eagle, waiting, and resting.
You CAN make this a better world, but life is just a minute.
God CAN lead you through it, if all your heart is in it. – The Hermanator
Despite all the bad news, there is hope if we do what we CAN do.
