Here we are, ready or not…Thanksgiving a few weeks away and Christmas next month.  The time of year family and friends gather to celebrate and rejoice.  I know that’s a hard word to say for some …rejoice…the times we are living in are full of anxiety and stress as we watch our economy crumble.

Family, friends and neighbors all experiencing the hardships of the housing market and loss of income to some degree.

When I was a young girl, I loved this time of year.  It was a “Happy Time” watching the changing colors of the leaves and jumping into the piles of leaves we raked…then blackening marshmallow’s as the leaves burned.  Yes, that was quite a few years ago, and times have changed.

Now I watch my grown children as they raise their own kids, blessed that both of my daughters are able to be stay at home moms with the kids.  It was not planned to be long term, but with the scarcity of jobs it was a choice that was made for them…thanks to our economy.  Our girls were not raised with riches, they grew up enjoying the things we were able to provide them.  Entertainment for us was picking out a few board games to play and spending the evening laughing and talking and of course competing for the most “hotels” if we were playing monopoly…

No one chooses to be in difficult situations, but, I do believe we all have choices how we deal with those situations.  Look for and find things to rejoice about this holiday season.  Remember, you can’t control others…the one thing you do have complete control over is YOU, and how you react to situations.  Be the leader with your family and among your friends; your going to find that your positive outlook will wear off on them.

Maybe it’s the weather today, or the fact that Kris and I are real estate agents working predominately with homeowners that are in financial hardships and need to sell their homes using a short sale and we see the adversity that so many families are dealing with everyday.

Whatever the reason, I’m feeling thankful and hope to share some ideas to get you through the adversities of the day, week, maybe the year your having…

• Keep in mind that your not alone, and that there is most certainly others dealing with similar circumstances.

I like this, it keeps me on track when feelings of  hopelessness try to sneak in.

Serenity Prayer

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.