This is a time of bad news.  Not only high-level wow-that's-horrible-but-it-doesn't-directly-affect-me bad news, like the war in the Middle East, but low-level man-I-don't-have-a-job-anymore-can't-pay-my-bills bad news.  More companies are laying off more people than ever; and everyone who loses their job is like a ripple in a pond; their bad news spreads to those around them.   The bad news could be affecting you, your family and friends, your neighbors, your colleagues.  So how do we handle it?

We focus on the stuff that isn't bad news; our health, our spouses and kids, our friends, the sun shining or rain falling.  We pay attention to beauty, to timeless things like stories and art.  We look for reasons to be optimistic; even an unprecedented time of bad news must end someday, and there must be good news woven through the bad.  We focus on ourselves instead of our environment.  Happiness comes from liking yourself.  Our circumstances are a big part of how we see ourselves, and so when our circumstances change, we see ourselves differently, and that can change our happiness.  But we adapt.

Some of us introspect, some ponder, some of us blog :)