I consider myself a very optimistic person, but I am aware that to be an optimistic person every day (every moment) requires “work”. Especially today when most of the headlines in the news are negative, when a lot of research and statistics show that we as Hispanics are going to the wrong path

(ie. school drop-outs, health) or headlines that companies are taking advantage of immigrants. These realities exist, but an unbalanced focus on them has a negative impact on people and their hope for the future.A recent opinion survey from the Pew Hispanic Center says that, “Hispanics see their situation in U.S. deteriorating.” How I see things is that the situation for the people in this country is pretty much the same. A lot of people regardless their color, language or status see their situation deteriorating. Don’t get me wrong. I know there are still many challenges for immigrants. As an immigrant myself I understand.  It doesn’t mean we all have the same problems…

Organizations will always produce such reports that news media eagerly distributes and usually tries to make even more dramatic. This kind of information will always be out there, but we don’t have to focus on it or even accept it all as reality. We should at least balance our view of the world and our lives by looking at other information sources or by sometimes going on an information diet – avoid the headlines! Avoiding news all the time will also give you a distorted view of things – finding the balance is not easy, but we should try for the sake of our future and our sanity! Visión Hispana is designed to be a balancing force in Hispanic news media – positive and inspiring stories with important stories about key issues. And we try to present all of that without the drama. Fear and drama are used to sell most things today. We need to choose not to buy based on fear and cheap distraction.

We should never forget that there are always positive, hopeful people around us and many of them still have challenges of their own, but they are moving forward anyway. In the past I had to make decisions to stay close to people who are positive and say “adios” to the negative ones. It is true that you end with fewer friends. It’s the positive people that we bring to you in every issue of Visión Hispana because they are important reminders of what Latinos can do and what they are doing!

Ricardo Perez is featured in our front page story in this issue. Years ago he had lost his job and was told by his former employer to collect government payments and wait until they could give him work again. Instead of waiting, Ricardo found a new job the next week and it was a job that led him to an industry and a business of his own. He succeeded big by not listening to people with small or short visions.

As I’ve always said, follow your own vision and you will be happy and successful.

Saludos,

Elena