What is your overall view of the world? When you take a good look at what's happening in the corporate workplace of our country, when you see the off-shoring of our manufacturing jobs, the destruction of our own middle class and the impending collapse of both the health care system and social security, do you think, "Ah, all will be well soon enough." Or, like Chicken Little, do you call out, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

We all have certain filters we apply to our view of the world. I try to span a broad range of both optimism or pessimism when it came to describing the reality of being middle-aged, unemployed or underemployed, with the remnants of what was once a retirement plan. While I can paint a pretty dark picture of this reality, I also know the light that exists when we refuse to be a victim of such circumstances.