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These are challenging times for all of us. Our country’s psyche has been numbed by the bewildering events of this decade. Terror strikes against our nation, polarizing wars and economic distress have led to extreme frustration and impatience. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the time is now for us renew our spirit by remembering where we’ve been.

The United States of America. US. USA. We chant it at the Olympics encouraging our athletes on to victory.  At the Ryder Group rooting on our golfers. Even at a political rally cheering for our favorite candidate. The U.S. is us and we are the United States.

From a simpler time, came the famous Chevy slogan – “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet.”  That seems so long ago.

These days nothing comes easy. This decade has presented us with some difficult challenges.

It started early in the decade on a bright, sunny morning on the east coast. The day that changed us forever. The day we never forget where we were when the terrible news broke. The dominant symbols of our financial system were horribly destroyed by ruthless villains commandeering our own airplanes

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Once again, not far from that eerie reminder of our vulnerability, Wall Street is crashing down taking with it our pensions, savings and trust in the economic engine of our country.  We’ve been entrenched in war in the Middle East for almost six years now with no clear end in sight. Recent fuel shortages after Hurricane Ike  in the southeast provide painful reminders of long lines and short tempers experienced during the gas crunch of the 1970’s.

Today, Chevrolet and the other automakers are knocking on government doors to ask for much needed cash to keep them afloat. The dominance of the Big 3 is long gone.

These are difficult times. We as nation have risen to greatness when our backs are against the wall. During the Great Depression, leaders made sweeping changes to our financial system and proposed a public works program to get our people moving again. Kennedy rose to the call and helped launch a space program that landed us on the moon. Yes, it was all of us on the moon that July 1969 day when Neil Armstrong declared it a giant step for mankind.

We as a nation now must rise again and take those big steps necessary to move beyond the stagnation of this decade – the war on terror, economic malaise, and a general discontent about our future.

Our future is now. It’s time to start cheering again. We may be in the underdog spot, but that’s ok. Upsets happen all the time. This time the upset won’t be so surprising. It’s just doing what we do best – shaking ourselves off, getting back up and looking forward to greater things.