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The recession is hardly news, now; we all know we're in one, we're all experiencing its effects to some degree. Unemployment is up, stocks are down, and for the most part, people just don't seem all that sunny.
I know I'm as guilty of this as anyone. We're feeling the pinch -- like everyone else -- but every expense or inconvenience or client who has to cut back catapults me into the same thought trajectory: "Argh! This sucks. I hate this. It's not fair. What are we going to do?" That's quickly followed by: "Ugh, I can't believe I'm upset about this. We still have jobs. We have some money in savings. Our house isn't in danger. Really, we're doing fine. It's just greedy and unappreciative for me to be upset about this."
And then... I'm still bummed out about whatever recession-related issue I'm facing, but then I feel guilty, too. Um, awesome.
And the news? Forget it. My eyes are shut and my fingers are planted in my ears. I can't take it. The economy is dismal and people are depressed. End of story.
Or is it?
Don't worry; I'm not going to whip out my tap shoes and sing "Put on a Happy Face," or anything. But there's a recession whether we're gloomy or not, so perhaps it behooves us all (myself included) to buck up a little bit.
The Vintage Chica relates a story from her neighborhood, to explain why she's committed to being proactive:
The man who was talking about letting the bank take his house is the very same man who was visited by the friendly Lawn Doctor truck not three hours previously. The same man who had proudly shown the group his new iphone. The same man who leases not one but two vehicles. The very same man with the "What in the world are we to do?" attitude as he threw up his hands up.
And I do not mean to say that a bunch of mere citizens can solve the world's problems standing out in the snow in 20 minutes. Not in the slightest, but I refuse to adopt the poor me attitude I keep witnessing.
(She has lots of great ideas in her post, and so do her commenters, so be sure to read the whole thing!)
Anuradha Bakshi of projectwhy also laments the "oh well" attitude she's seeing:
My heart goes out to those who have got pink slips and those living with the fear of losing their jobs. I understand the despair of those who gambled on the stock markets and lost. I feel the pain of those unable to pay their mortgages and who live with the fear of seeing themselves without a roof on their heads. These are real situations. What I am referring to is the unreal ones where people use recession as a possible escape route for the future; when people bluntly tell you that they may not be able to meet their paltry commitments in the future because of recession. What irks me no end is the general attitude of gloom that we all sink in rather than try and analyse why things turned from bad to worse, why we did not see it coming, and above all whether we are responsible for them in anyway. No we simply seem to be grateful for having found a way to explain our own inadequacies.
She goes on to say that the crisis we're facing in this recession is actually a moral one.
Emily at Don't Call Me Gringa cites many examples she's seem of people begrudging others' their success in these trying times, and she's calling them out:
I understand that the recession is hard. It's scary. [...] Tearing someone else down doesn't increase your bank balance or find you a job. It's a bad enough situation without making people feel bad about their successes - we should support each other, not only because it's nice but also because networking is more important than ever, and nobody will help you if you're bitching all the time.
Artist Lilla Rogers shares an awesome list of suggestions for other artists to follow during a recession, and the first item is simply: "Stay positive." Other items I love include "Rather than get discouraged, see it as a challenge," and "There are always opportunities out there in the world." Honestly, she's right, and it's hard for us to see, sometimes, or altogether too easy to dismiss as empty rah-rah tripe
