Think You Have It Bad?

A friend alerted me to these cool maps on Kiplinger, with unemployment broken down by state and, further than that, by year.

I know that it doesn't make any of you feel any better to see that other states are worse off than you. And I know that when I scrolled through, it certainly didn't make me feel any better to see that it was way worse in 1976 for New York than it was in 2009. But it does give some perspective to my situation.

It stinks out there right now. You have to work your extra hard to get a job - any job. I like, however, the perspective that this map gives. Because, yes, things are bad right now. It's possible that they'll get worse. But, and here's the thing, they have been worse. And the economy recovered. Everyone needs to take a step back and do whatever they can to get ahead (or back to where you were before your layoff). This is the time for thinking outside the box. This is the time for innovation.

This is most certainly not the time to be resting on your laurels or sitting on your butt complaining about how bad things are. Everyone knows how bad they are.

But it's been a lot worse.

Image from Anderson Cooper 360° blog on CNN