According to a new CBS News-New York Times poll, 81 percent of Americans believe the United States is on the wrong track.

Folks, I was driving home when I heard that on the radio Thursday afternoon and I nearly drove off the road. Not because of the number itself... but because of what I heard next: That's the worst the number's been since it was first asked nearly 20 years ago.

Are we really that pessimistic as a nation or is it the reality?

Let's take a look through the New York times.

There is this article Friday that shows employers cut 80,000 jobs across the country in the month of March.

Then, there's this article that shows a significant increase in the use of food stamps, and their equivalents, as those people lose their jobs and can no longer afford to eat.

Both of those were published the same week as a statement from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke which sounded decidedly uncertain if the U.S. could avoid a recession and another poll showed that a majority of the world's nations have a negative view of the United States--for the first time.

It's truly a lot to wrap your head around when you think what goes into "being on the wrong track."

Certainly we all have our own perspective. Is it the economy on the whole, the housing crisis, the Iraq and Afghanistan war, or is it because some of the more than 1,000 people surveyed for the poll had just lost their job?

For me, it shows that "perception" is everything. A track is what we make of it.

Nearly 140 years after the first Trans-Continental railroad was completed here, maybe it's time that we start off to build a better, more modern track--one that will alter our perception and get us out of an old rut.