On a daily basis I look for inspiration for work, for the blog, for my personal life. However, it’s been hard to find “inspiration” when every article seems to be about law firm layoffs, job deferrals, or withdrawn job offers, with or without a golden parachute.

In the comments section of an article on Pillsbury’s recent $60,000 offer to incoming first-years to walk away I found this little “inspiring” nugget:

Yet more proof that the Class of ’09 is the Lost Generation.

Get ready, Class of ’09, more announcements like this to come. You may think you are just deferred, but you are really fired.

Ouch! Nothing inspiring there.

So, I was happy to have my perspective right-sided by a story Jeffrey Gitomer recounted in his blog today, Kids teach the value, purpose, and wisdom of WOW!

Last spring I was walking in a park. A short distance ahead of me was a mom and her three-year-old daughter. The little girl was holding on to a string that was attached to a helium balloon. All of a sudden, a sharp gust of wind took the balloon from the little girl. I braced myself for some screaming and crying.

But, no! As the little girl turned to watch her balloon go skyward, she gleefully shouted out, “Wow!”

I didn’t realize it at that moment, but that little girl taught me something.

Later that day, I received a phone call from a person with news of an unexpected problem. I felt like responding with “Oh no, what should we do?” But remembering that little girl, I found myself saying, “Wow, that’s interesting! How can I help you?”

WARNING: I’m about to go Pollyanna on you.

I do believe that we are all right where we’re supposed to be.
During the last recession, I was a young college grad on the way to law school. Long story short, everyone seemed to be flocking to law school that year. When I didn’t get into the school of my choice, I took it as a sign to do something different. Along my new path I picked up great experiences as a lobbyist for a non-profit, learned how to plan conferences and events, was trained on desktop publishing, and participated in some great sales training.

All of those skills, even without the law degree, provided me the foundation for my current career as a legal marketer, and probably a few other careers as well.

I know a lot of people are out there panicking, but maybe you should be looking at the different opportunities and paths that are now available to you.

The recession will end. The Dow will once again rise. And you will have a career. It might not be what you planned when you were in college, or law school, but you might just end up saying “Wow!”