I am working hard not to. Reminding myself to have faith, to worry less and to push away negative thoughts.

Still. It's tough to ignore the endless stream of bad news. Markets crashing, schools closing, people getting sick—worry everywhere.

This is a time to pause and think about the big picture.

Why? Because people who know how to look at the big picture succeed best in life. If we give in to the stress-of-the-moment, the immediate, the right-now, we are bound to live a stressful existence. If we are able to look beyond the horizon, we can march forward.

Here is the big picture: We live in a wonderful world, and G‑d has been so good to us. All of us.

Yes. The cup is not full. But it's not exactly empty, mind you. In fact, I believe it's 90% full. Maybe even more.

Like millions of Americans around me, I decided to become an expert on the Coronavirus. So I did what all experts do: I Googled.

My first stop was to read about the plague that struck the world just about 100 years ago: the Spanish Flu, which had a devastating impact on life expectancy. Before the pandemic, life expectancy in the US was about 52 years old. Due to the flu, the numbers dropped to about 39 years old.

Stop and think about it.

Right now, the entire globe is doing all they can to save older people and people with pre-existing conditions. This is why we put entire cities in quarantine; This is why we close schools and canceled all major sports.

But 100 years ago, we barely had any 70-year-olds to worry about!

So yes, we should be concerned about their health and do all we can to protect them. But how lucky we are that we have who to care about!

Then think about the people in quarantine.

100 years ago, they were isolated, alone, their families worrying constantly, they had very few options to receive information from their loved ones...

And now? Facetime, Whatsapp, phone calls, text messages. Yes, quarantine is still lonely, but much less so than a century ago.

Think about the major advancements in medicine. Think about the ability to get help fast to those who need it.

The list goes on, and on, and on.

So yes - the Coronavirus is something we should take seriously.

But at the same time, let's not forget about the big picture. Let's be full of gratitude to the One above for giving us such a wonderful life.

For advice and guidance on how to weather this unique time of uncertainty see: A Selection of Letters From the Lubavitcher Rebbe On Faith