Economic down times are an invitation for a person’s whole outlook to turn negative. There is constant news of layoffs and rising unemployment. Although pessimism and discouragement are understandable, they are not helpful. They tend to rob us of energy, convince us that action is useless, poison our relationships, make us ill and destroy our ability to bounce back. Clearly, keeping a positive outlook is important. It is not easy to do, but with practice we can learn to change our interpretation of negative situations and keep our minds on a positive track. We can also learn to take bold action to improve our situation and extend assistance to others.

We always have a choice about how we interpret events. It is possible to see the present recession as the worst disaster since the Great Depression, an exciting healing crisis for the world’s economic system or a regrettable inconvenience. If we lose our job, we can believe that there is little hope of getting a new one, that it’s going to be a hard process but we’ll live through it, or that we have so much to offer our success is assured. If we consistently see the down side of things, it will drain us of energy and resilience. If we see the up side, we’ll feel more energetic and prepared to take action.Getting active is important. It takes our mind off our troubles, improves our situation and usually connects us with others. Here are some action steps that help either take your mind off your troubles or improve your life situation:

• Turn off the news and go do something fun
• Update your resume
• Volunteer at a service organization or help a neighbor
• Go to coffee with a friend and talk about positive things
• Schedule a networking conversation
• Think of things you’re grateful for – 10 things each morning and evening
• Do that thing you’ve been putting off that would feel so good if you did it
• Sign up for a class, especially one that improves or polishes your skills
• Go dancing
• Rather than complaining, make plansThe present worldwide recession and accompanying layoffs are daunting challenges, but we’ve faced tougher things. If we can keep a sense of perspective and maintain our confidence, we’ll emerge from it not only stronger but sooner than if we allow ourselves to get too discouraged