The Dow is down, the dollar is up. Sometimes the financial news that you hear affects how you feel, even though it may not affect your bank account or anything else, that you are doing in your daily life, there is still something depressing about what happens during the day and what happens to you? You still have to eat, sleep gets dressed and do all of your normal functions. Yet, the news is so dismal that you do not feel as though you are happy at all.

It is not easy to keep a positive outlook when you are unsure of your financial future. Fortunately or unfortunately many people are in the same boat.

You still have dreams for the future, and goals you want to achieve. Some goals do not require any more to achieve them and those that do may need to be altered to deferred because of the current financial state. 

Remember your attainable goals that have nothing to do with outside factors. Small goals will help you feel as though you have accomplished something. If you are in financial straits, this is only part of your life. Money isn’t everything, focus on coping strategies. Remember it’s not just you – there are other people facing money problems – unemployed, underemployed, foreclosure looming, 401(K) shrinking, pension dwindling. The list goes on and on but there are still many things that you can look forward to that have little to do with money such as spending time with fiends and family, reading a book, going for a walk. Taking your mind off of your money problems will put things into better perspective and allow you to truly understand that there are some things you can control and others you can’t.