Economy got you down? Get back up with a new attitude and focus on the positive.

The current financial climate has many parents feeling concerned about the economic well-being of their families. The fear of job instability, a troubled housing market and lost savings in a souring economy can make a parent feel much less tranquil.

You might have noticed that the more attention and focus you give your fears, the bigger they seem and your options appear to shrink. While I don’t recommend being in denial or ignoring the facts of your life, I do know that keeping your attention on what is going well and maintaining a positive attitude can go a long way towards discovering a solution when you feel challenged.

Be creative: Often, the most difficult times awaken your inner resourcefulness. Think back on a time in your life when you successfully navigated a challenging situation. Likely, you applied your creative energy to reach a better outcome. By connecting to your inner resources instead of fear, you are more likely to take actions that will have more beneficial results. Here are some questions to ask yourself to inspire creative thinking:

• What is going well for me right now and why?


• Who do I know that is doing things differently and succeeding?


• What do I want to experience right now? What is the first thing I can do to move in that direction?

Reach out to your community and share resources. Instead of feeling competitive for assumed limited resources, think about how you might pool resources with your community members. Sharing childcare, working together on money-earning projects, sharing housing with another like-minded family, putting on clothing swaps and growing a neighborhood garden are all connected ways to work together.

Live your values. Now, more than ever, it is vital to live from your personal values. Maybe you have always believed in driving less and saving gas but have never taken the effort to make it a reality. Perhaps shopping locally makes good sense to you, but the big retailer is just down the street. Now is the time to put your money where your values are.

Learn more about simplicity and sustainability. One great way to save money is to practice simplicity. So much of the current crisis in our economy is due to living beyond our means in a very unsustainable way. If simplicity is a new concept to you or you want to deepen your understanding of the value of consciously choosing simplicity, Janet Luhr’s The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living is a great resource. Living simply does not mean you have to move out of your house and live in a tent or confine your budget to ten dollars per day! Living simply means making conscious choices to use less, eliminating waste and delighting in having less to worry about. Keep in mind the old saying: the more you have, the more you have to worry about.

Redefine abundance! Consider that living an abundant life can mean being healthy, fulfilled and having loving relationships. By connecting with gratitude for the gifts you have right now in your life, you will be more in touch with what is truly important to you. What does abundance mean to you?

We all want to provide for our families and live in a thriving world, with opportunities and personal freedom. Collectively, the more often we choose sustainable lifestyles and live from our personal values, the more likely we are to create an economy which supports those practices and creates a healthier financial climate for families.