We’re a resilient bunch

"We’re indeed a resilient bunch and that’s what gets us through the tough times. History tells us better times lie ahead."

We’ve all heard them: when the going gets tough, the tough get going. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try,  try again. It’s always darkest before the dawn. When one door closes, another opens. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
    Those cliches feel especially fitting for the times we are experiencing right now in rural America. Guess the same could be said for our country too after a contentious election that some people just can’t accept. But let’s focus on closer to home.
    Our ag economy has seen the best of times and the worst of times in a span of just five to six years.
    There was a point in time when both the farmers and the cattle growers were making good money. Then, it all went south.
    Wheat and corn sell for less than half off their record highs. It’s been a blood bath for the cattle feeder who got hit with high input costs and falling prices.
    Machinery dealers can certainly attest to just how bad the farm economy has gotten. Main streets in the ag heartland can feel the difference too.
    A good friend of mine, Dr. Bob Manley, now deceased, was a historian and professor. In the later years of his career, Manley devoted a great deal of time to studying rural communities and why some flourished while others struggled.
    As a historian, he said one theme always proved true—that over time, history always repeats itself.
    That meant that sooner or later, regardless of how good things may have been, each community was going to be faced with challenges. The difference rested in how those communities and its people handled those challenges.
    The spirit of our prairie pioneer ancestors still lives within us. That’s why we in Chase County know that good times always follow the bad times. It’s that perseverance and resilience that makes us what and who we are today.
    When the going gets tough, the tough get going. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try,  try again. It’s always darkest before the dawn. When one door closes, another opens. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. We’re indeed a resilient bunch and that’s what gets us through the tough times. History tells us better times lie ahead.

 

The Imperial Republican

308-882-4453 (Phone)

622 Broadway St

PO Box 727

Imperial, NE 69033