Crisis creates opportunity. We should never waste a crisis.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Opportunity is everywhere. The key is to develop the vision to see it. Jeremiah Say

Crisis creates opportunity, and even if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities they are still there and someone else will take advantage of them. How often do we look back over our lives and think I was there but didn’t see it? Many of us have been waiting for opportunities but only looking back do we see the opportunities that came our way.

I look at other lives and think why didn’t I see what they saw, what was I thinking when X was happening, why didn’t I jump on board?

How big of a life can we live if we are opportunity seekers and opportunity takers?

It’s time to start thinking about planting seeds, in our gardens and lives. The seeds we plant, like the thoughts we think will bear fruit. Are we planting for one season or for years to come? Are we planting something that will bring a blessing to generations?

My son tells me we are the worst generation; he thinks we haven’t been very interested in the legacy we leave behind. We haven’t been the builders but instead the users, not the conservers of what we inherited.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill

How do we look at what is happening in the world without fear? If it is possible, we have to have faith we can deal with what is coming, that embedded in chaos and crisis is opportunity. We need faith in our traditions that have helped build lives based on courage, fortitude, and trust.

We know if life is to be better for us, it has to be better for others. What does better look like, is it one more big purchase, one more memorable holiday, or is it building for the next generation? What choices need to be made as individuals and society to build better? Do we trust life can continue to improve for coming generations?

What would our grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents think of what we’ve built? Some of the good is very, very good, but some of the bad is very, very bad. How can we build a society with less of the very, very bad?

Why when we have an array of choices do some of us choose the very worst of what is on offer and others choose the very best, while still others muddle somewhere in the middle?

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon

Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Napoleon Hill

Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you. John C. Maxwell

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Competition and national interests.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

In almost every case, whenever a tariff or quota is imposed on imports, that tax is strongly supported by the domestic industry getting the protective shield from lower-priced foreign competition. The sugar industry supports sugar tariffs, textile mills lobby for tariffs on foreign clothing. Stephen Moore

Who gets to weigh in on this conflict between America and the rest of the world? As a common person, I’m throwing out my two cents. What if what we are most afraid of will make us stronger and more resilient? What if we grow from adversity and become complacent with ease? What if all the angst can be harnessed for good and we will all come out better on both sides of the border?

What if self-reliance is needed because reliance on others means we can’t always get what we need? What if the price of a bargain is too expensive? What if fair trade and not free trade is what we need? What does fair trade look like, and is fair according to whom?

What if this trade war with America costs my household, but Canadians start doing things we should have been doing, we might all prosper in the end. We finish the pipelines to export our oil and natural gas to the world. We secure our borders.  We build houses, build up our country, and make things work. What if the kick in the pants we need comes from South of the border?

I listened to an interview with Jean Chretien, who served as Canada’s Prime Minister from 1993 – 2003 and turned 91 on February 1st. He tells us this is nothing new, we’ve always had trade wars with America, and he started dealing with America in 1968. What we sell to America they need.

There’s no such thing as a genius in politics, or at least I have never met one. There are only human beings, some better than others, who rise or fall on the challenges they meet. Jean Chretien

This might be a glass half empty, half full moment, and we choose to look at it either way. We have good people to negotiate for Canada, we have to trust they will do their best, and we also have to trust that America does not want to throw a wrecking ball into the parts of our joint economies that work tightly together. We must stay calm, Canada is not going to be the 51st state. Will we end up better because we get our house in order?

Let me tell you, my fellow countrymen, that all the signs point this way, that the 20th century shall be the century of Canada and Canadian development… For the next 100 years, Canada shall be the star towards which all men who love progress and freedom shall come. Sir Wilfrid Laurier October 14, 1904

A weaker currency is a national tariff. After we get a weaker currency, we have to take advantage of that. Or else, we will waste it once more in inflation and in the inability to raise competitiveness. Uday Kotak

Everybody talks about tariffs as the first thing. Tariffs are the last thing. Tariffs are part of the negotiation. The real trick is going to be increasing American exports. Get rid of the tariff and no-tariff barriers to American exports. Wilbur Ross

Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read more, have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

To subscribe, comment, and see archives or categories of posts click on the picture and scroll to the end.

Thank you for reading my books, and a special thanks for leaving a review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item I receive a small percentage of the sale through the Amazon affiliate program.