Don't Panic! Plan Ahead.

"These are the times that try men's souls."

That famous line, first published at Christmas 1776, opens the first of a series of essays collected under the title "The Crisis" that author Thomas Paine hoped would provide encouragement and inspiration to the average citizen during the war for independence. Paine's goal was to show his fellow Americans that the battle against tyranny was moral and just.

Today, the crisis isn't breaking away from a leader who abuses us for personal gain. (NOTE TO SELF: Actually, it kinda is. But I digress.) These times, the misfortune we face is contagion.

A ga...