It's A Bad Economy, But It Will Get Better

Just about everyone is feeling the queasiness associated with our nation's - and especially our local - economy. Quality businesses are cutting wherever they can. Good workers are concerned about layoffs and the general economic outlook is dismal. All of us are affected and it's not a pleasant situation. That said, most of us know that better days are coming. The difficulty is hanging on until then.

It's impossible to pick up a newspaper, magazine or watch TV news without being inundated with news of some company laying off thousands of workers here and thousands of workers there. Foreclosures are skyrocketing and people right here in Highlands County are struggling to get by.

Many local companies are scraping to find customers and save their employees' jobs. Some of these folks are just trying to keep their doors open. It's painful to watch, and even more painful if you're one of the people doing everything possible to stay afloat financially.

Those of use who have been around long enough have seen this before. Go back to the tech stock bust about eight years ago, or the stock market crash years before that. We've all seen business slow to a crawl and then, eventually, swing back the other way. That doesn't make it any less painful, but we must keep faith that it will get better, because it will.

We're all aware that our local real estate market is struggling. That seems hard to believe considering how hot it was just a couple of years ago. But we have faith stability will return and see some normalcy in real estate and the entire economy. It seems like real estate and the economy is intertwined here as much as anywhere.

So while it's easy to tell people to hold on a little longer, it's hard to do it. The good news is that in our hearts we know it will get better - it always does. Keeping the faith is the best we can do right now.