Attitude and Recession

I found myself, earlier this week, in a bit of a funk.  Certainly not the kind of funk that’s gripped people who have lost homes and jobs; I’ve lost neither and consider myself incredibly lucky.  But I was in a bit of a funk about ever-tightening finances: worried about clash flow, about the incredibly shrinking nest egg, about the bills; worried about things I’ve promised to others, promises I don’t know if I can still fulfill. 

It took me a few days to get a grip.  There is so much news out there that continues to be so grim.  Finally, slowly, I seemed to be able to lift my head out of the muck and remind myself of my own strengths: I’ve always, forever, been an entrepreneur, and a recession is the best time to continue being (or to start being) an entrepreur.  There are generally projects available even if there aren’t full-time jobs available; and I’ve always wanted to combine projects and private consulting with teaching anyway.  There are lots of companies which would love personalized, customized training in crisis, or community relations, or social media.  So what’s my problem?  Probably just inertia.  Probably just a big sigh about starting yet again… but that’s how life is when you hang out your own shingle.  You always start again.  You can’t look at how tiring that might be; you have to view it as discovering opportunities out there.  You have to visualize the people who need you, and what it might take to get in touch with them so you can be of genuine service. 

I have a flyer about attitude here on my desk.  The last sentence reads, “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”  Yeah.  Why should any of us hide our light under a bushel?