So, the market is down 555 points, almost 5 percent. Yet so far this is no October Black Monday, like when the market dropped 13 percent on October 28th, 1929 or when it dropped 22% on October 19, 1987. (Note: Things are moving fast, market down another 100 points since I started writing).

This is, in many ways, even worse - just another Gray Monday, where we get the continued, orderly drip-drip-drip of a market with no confidence, and no idea of where we are headed.

Did you know in the Great Depression the market fell 89% from its 1929 peak? And that it took us three years to get there? I'm not saying that's what is going to happen now. The world is very different. The genesis of this crisis is very different (whether that's good or bad, who knows?). But it's something to consider. I think we're headed toward that panic sell-off ... but we're not there yet, and even if we have it, I don't expect to get the immediate recovery we got in 1987.

Things will likely get worse before they get better. Good people will suffer. But to complain seems rather silly when so many people around the world have much bigger problems. As far as I know, I'm healthy. My family is healthy. i have so much love in my life. I know how I'm going to find my next meal. I live in a country where I can speak my mind, and vote my conscience.

Yes, even on Gray Mondays, life goes on.  I walked my dog in Central Park this afternoon and the sun was still shining. It was a beautiful early fall day, and I enjoyed every moment, watching my cocker spaniel search for any bits of food left by careless picnickers and chase squirrels he'll never catch and wouldn't know what to do with even if he did.

This election both presidential candidates have been tossing out words like Hope and Change as if they were cheap plastic political buttons, offering very few specifics about how we are going to get out of this mess. But Hope and Change are powerful concepts, and if applied correctly can help people get through tough times.

Today, I'd like to add one more:

Gratitude.