Rep.-elect Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, leaves after attending orientation for new members of Congress, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

A lot of people are struggling financially right now because so many businesses have had to cut back hours or shut down thanks to the government’s push to promote “social distancing” to combat the Wuhan coronavirus. Even worse than the financial struggles, many are struggling emotionally with frequent feelings of hopelessness and/or anxiety creeping up periodically, and worrying about what the future holds.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) appeared on a Fox and Friends segment this morning and addressed those feelings and how to rise above them. After being asked by co-host Brian Kilmeade if his service in the military prepared him for situations like what America is facing right now, Crenshaw noted that it’s really all a “matter of perspective” and understanding your situation and “how bad others” around you may have it.

Calling the strategy a “bit of a mental game,” Crenshaw emphasized that doing so would perhaps give you “some gratitude.” From that gratitude, he stated, “comes hope and perseverance.” Here’s more of what he said during the interview, via Fox News::

“The big mission is to get back to our lives, the big mission is to keep ourselves healthy, so how do you do that?” said Crenshaw on “Fox and Friends” on Monday. “There are a series of smaller missions… you have a duty to get those small mission done.”

“Maybe that’s supporting your local business,” said the first-term congressman and former Navy SEAL, “maybe that’s making sure that you wash your hands and cover your face any time you are in public interacting with other people.”

“The American Spirit really is about personal responsibility and accountability,” he continued. “Not asking what can be done for us. But asking what more we can do, and we’ve forgotten that John F. Kennedy quote to such an extraordinary degree and I think this is the time to remember it.”

“My fellow Americans,” said Kennedy during his 1961 inauguration speech, “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

“The more we understand about this virus, the more empowered we actually are, so instead of always waiting for somebody to help us, Americans should remember the American Spirit,” said Crenshaw.

Watch the segment below, via MRC TV:

In addition to that advice, I’ll add that it’s important now perhaps more than it ever has been to lean on prayer and faith.

As I’ve written before, faith in God has carried many people through the ups and downs in their lives. When they felt they had nothing else, they knew they had their faith in God to guide them. It made them stronger, more committed to helping those in need, more emboldened to commit selfless acts in order to help others.

I’m leaning on it heavier now than I have in a long time, and it has pulled me through a lot. I encourage other believers to do the same, and to take Crenshaw’s words of wisdom to heart, too.