I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The [...] banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy. — Howard Beale, Network

Come to think of it, that’s not a great quote for what I want to say, but the film (Network) is so incredibly worth watching that I thought I should quote it to sow some seeds. It was just the first few sentences which put me in mind of it. Things ARE bad, and everyone is saying so.

But recessions are not intrinsically bad. Just as winter kills off the weak things and the pests, so recessions cleanse us of the chaff we build up (you’ll recall that estate agents were amongst the first to go) – so rather than fearing winter, think about planning for the spring. The seeds you plant now are going to be next summer’s fruits.

Or, to quote another film

Cheer up you old bugger, c’mon give us a grin!
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
So always look on the bright side of life
(der dum, der der di dum di dum!)