How many of us remember those long summer trips in the family station wagon heading to your favorite vacation spot and uttering the phrase "Are We There Yet"?  I know I have had my share of those experiences in the early 1970's before the iTouch, Nintendo's and cell phones came along.  We actually had to talk to our family members or listen to my dad's radio station or simply look out the window to pass the time.

So, "Are We There Yet?" Not, yet. What I mean is this. Are we out of the recession that has gripped our wonderful country over the past few years? The "experts" say we are through the recession but have YOU felt it? Have you felt that we are back on track as a economy and the best country in the world, moving forward to prosperity and growth?

In my business there is still a long way to go but we are heading in the right direction. Have you found that job? Is your small business thriving or surviving? How about you Mr. Corporate America, how's things on your end?

There have been two little words that I have said over and over that I want to pass on that has helped me the past couple of years get through these times: Stop It.

Stop listening to everyone say how bad things are. Stop talking to everyone about how bad things are. Stop believing that things are really that bad. Stop it!  Yes, things are tough, we all know that. But now is the time we put our big boy and girl pants on and work through it.

Get out there and find a job if you need one. How do you do that? Network with your Sphere of Influence. Forget the classified ads. Talk to people you know. They know where all the jobs are anyway.  Is your business struggling? What have you done that does not cost money to build the business? Have you started to offer something no one else does? Get creative. Think outside the box. Do something different.

"Are we there yet?"

I would really like to hear what you have done to get going over the past year and change your mindset or do you have any thoughts on what we as a local economy can do. Pass them on, would love to hear them