Do you feel it? The world is in turmoil. Between a civil war and a humanitarian crisis in Syria; the devastating hurricane aftermath in Haiti, Florida and the Carolinas; and a historic United States presidential election that is dividing the country more than ever before, it’s difficult to feel at peace.

Closer to home, my office lost a dear colleague in December to a heart attack, several people recently quit (I’m one of them – this is positive news – albeit with some stress), several loved ones of friends and colleagues recently passed away and a prominent member of the community decided to take his life this week.

Not only are we dealing with our own emotions during this difficult time but we are also feeding off the negative energy of others around us who are doing their best to cope. It’s a negative stew bubbling up that’s ready to explode.

Or is it?

While the easiest course is to allow ourselves to be further sucked in to the negative stew, we have a choice.

Tips to turn troubling situations into positive opportunities

I recently attended a conference at which Olympic Gold Medalist Shannon Miller was the guest speaker. An ovarian cancer survivor, she talked about adversity and overcoming negativity in her career and in her life. She suggested to have two positive thoughts for every negative thought you have or you hear. In the law of attraction, like attracts like. While the natural inclination is to feel more pissed off when something bad happens, if we seize that moment to think of two positive aspects of our life, we begin to shift the energy and have an improved experience immediately. The beauty is that Shannon’s approach can work in any given situation or tragedy.

Regarding the presidential election, what a $hit show. You truly do need a cocktail or several to get through the debates. How do we make sense of it all? No one seems to be happy with either potential outcome and that’s scary. However, a highly intelligent and evolved friend of mine offered some brilliant advice on how to deal with the feelings we have about our candidates. While you may ultimately choose to vote for the candidate you dislike the least (because you don’t particularly like either), send both Clinton, Trump and this election positive energy. That resonated with me. While we can do our part to influence a particular situation (like voting), we are not able to control or determine the outcome. Why not send both of them a little love? They are going to need it and so are we, Madam or Mister President – please let it be ‘Madam.’

Finally, for those of us who have decided to make career changes, it is never an easy decision and we certainly have doubted ourselves along the way. We tend to blame the people or situations that prompted us (unbeknownst to them) to look for those greener pastures on the other side of the fence. However, when I look back at those times or individuals, I am so very grateful for them. If I were complacent and comfortable, I never would have gone after my dream of being a health coach and blogger. So my advice to my friends and colleagues who have also taken a leap of career faith is to silently thank any rotten eggs you may have encountered along the way and send love and positive energy to all the good eggs you will leave behind.

If you look on the bright side everyday and look twice each time you are faced with adversity, that frown will inevitably turn upside down.