If you look at the core indicators of the American economy right now, the story is actually a pretty good one. Employment is holding strong, consumer spending hasn’t collapsed, and American businesses, especially in tech, energy, and manufacturing are sitting on real potential. We are not a country in decline. We are a country that is ready to accelerate.

So, what is holding us back? Three things, and they’re all connected. Interest rates are still too high. That alone is enough to keep a strong economy feeling sluggish. Oil prices compound the problem; volatile energy costs touch everything from groceries to shipping to construction, and unpredictability is the enemy of growth. Then there’s the ongoing conflict overseas while it may feel distant, war disrupts global supply chains, rattles investor confidence, and keeps energy markets on edge in ways that hit American businesses and American families directly at home.

Here’s what I keep coming back to, though: America has faced every one of these headwinds before and every single time, we’ve come out the other side stronger. Rates will come down. Oil will stabilize. Conflicts, as painful as they are, eventually end. And when the noise clears, what’s left is an American economy with strong fundamentals, a workforce that wants to work, and entrepreneurs ready to build. I don’t just think we’ll recover, I think what comes next is going to be a huge growth period. We just have to get there.