Declare a Moratoriam on Bad News Now
Tired of all the bad news these days? I am. The incessant negative reports from every quarter of the economy and the world have been bombarding us for at least two years now. I, for one, am ready to declare a moratoriam. Aren’t you?
Maybe forewarned is forearmed, but after a while, these negative reports are simply depressing and demoralizing. Depressed people don’t act positively to improve their situations. Depressed people simply opt out, hunker down, and pray for an end to it all. That behavior is not what we need.
Here’s an example: This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that many large law firms are “deferring” the starting dates for their newly hired first year associates who would otherwise have started working this past summer and fall. Some have been deferred for more than a year. That may be the “bad news.”
But here’s the up side: the same article reports that these new grads are being paid a “stipend” that far exceeds the amount of money a family of four lives on in this country while they wait. And in the meantime, these new grads have a year or more off. They can work at other jobs, volunteer, travel, do pro bono work, write, or just lay around and watch TV. They can use this time to relax and refresh themselves, renew their energy so that they start their jobs full of positive enthusiasm.
Bad news is in the mind of the receiver. Don’t let the headlines fool you. Play Angel’s Advocate and ask yourself: Where’s the Good in this situation?
