Staying Positive.

A topic on the #99erAid Twitterchat a couple of weeks ago was ways to stay positive.  A positive mental attitude is essential for 99ers to survive. H.R. 589 would go a long way to helping with positive thoughts. A jobs creation bill would also be helpful.  Both items need to pass Congress, so 99ers must advocate for their passage. Political action alone can't maintain positivity, so long term unemployed need to focus on daily/weekly items to stay positive. In the course of preparing for my life beyond H.R. 589 and 99erhood, I have found two sites that will help maintain a daily positive outlook

In Seth Godin's roundup of SXSW, I was introduced to Gretchen Rubin. Ms. Rubin is the founder of the "The Happiness Project". The name is self explanatory. I get the daily "moment of happiness" to remind me to stay positive.

This past Friday night I met Nate St. Pierre through Gini Dietrich on her blog, "Spin Sucks".  Actually, Nate was introduced to me and technically the introduction was on Twitter but either way I found "It Starts With Us" due to my participation on "Spin Sucks". Participation in "In Starts With Us" is simple. Each week you commit to spending 15 minutes on a prescribed project delivered via email. 15 minutes isn't much time, but 15 minutes X 1000's of people has a very positive effect.

Both "The Happiness Project" and "It Starts With Us" are new activities for me. I'll let you know how it's working, but given the name and portfolio I expect positive results from both. So, how do you stay positive?