This morning I received a call from a friend telling me that her workplace announced that, effective immediately, all employees would receive a 10% reduction in salary.  For my friend, this meant she would be giving up $20,000.  Another girlfriend’s husband has lost his job with less than four months of severance as a parting allowance.  One of my clients announced, with shock and awe, that her husband was forced to close their primary business.  What do all of these people have in common?

I know that we all have either, seen, heard or been personally touched by the swing in the economy.  What can we do to minimize stress, anxiety and defeat?  I believe that when we experience huge shifts in our economic situations, health, or personal lives it is an opportunity to redefine your life.  It is an opportunity for us to look at what we have, instead of what we don’t have enough of.

You see, recently my husband received some inevitable news about his health.  He was told that his kidneys have failed and that he would need to start dialysis treatment.  This is huge and a major life shift.  As we learn of all the best options for his care, one thing we decided was most important was enjoying each day and making the most of it instead of focusing on worry, sadness and fear.  Instead, we decided how we can make friends with the situation by doing what we can to focus on being as healthy as possible while understanding that, in order to prepare for a kidney transplant one day, we will need both the physical and mental resilience to move into this new position.  Make sense?

Here are my recommendations for managing stress and anxiety.  They are:

Surround yourself with people who are pulling for you.  Don’t take the phone calls of those that condemn you or your situation.  Envelope yourself in inspiration.  It will make you feel better.

Accept the news but don’t let your situation define your life. Alter your course accordingly but rest assured that you have absolute influence over how you choose to feel about your life each day and in each moment.

Fear is not your enemy but your teacher. Learn from what is making you afraid and use it to challenge you to take an action to combat that fear.  In our situation, dialysis was a fear because my husband’s dad, grandmother and other relatives have all been on dialysis.  What my husband and his excellent medical team have done is to explain the amazing options available to him.  Additionally, my husband received an inspiring message from a relative in California affirming his health and wellness and that he was passing along the word in the family to help him find a kidney.  Powerful isn’t it?    This allowed Pat to know what his medical options are, given his age, health and advances in medicine.  So often, our fear grows because well meaning people begin to speak their experience as your truth when you have a different reality.  So if you are facing more month than money get creative and stop listening to advice that makes you feel worse.  Make sense?

Take a positive action everyday.  Action is the cure for fear.

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Author, speaker and radio host Mia Redrick is a Mom Life Strategist and the founder of Finding Definitions, LLC a company created to empower mothers to practice better self-care. Committed to getting 1,000,000 moms to practice better self-care, Mia authored Time for Mom-Me:5 Essential Strategies for A Mother’s Self-care and currently hosts 27 national groups utilizing her system. To learn more about starting a group visit www.timeformom-me.com.