This has been and still is a hard week for the East Coast. For Connecticut, the hurricane wasn't that bad, but the aftermath slowly became more worse for wear. My power has been out since Sunday and even with a generator, it's been hard. Just taking a shower out of a small tub can be fraught with many incidental steps and procedures. Stepping on extension cords in bare feet is the worst — it hurts!

But you have to keep your sense of humor about you — a lighter side of your personality to help you get through each adversity as it comes along. It's not fun hitting the gas station every day with a trundle of gas cans to spend $60-$70 for the generator to run for 24 hours.

I use this as an example — we all hit some level and type of adversity in our lives. It's not really what happens — it's how we respond to it that matters.

Look on the bright side — instead of focusing on what you've lost — focus on what is now available to you. With cable, wi-fi, and most lights out, my family and I spent the last few days constructing a 2000 piece puzzle, cooking on the grill, reenacting colonial times with candles, and sleeping altogether in our bedroom (we brought in their mattresses — it's like camping).

Now let's turn our lens to WORK. If something goes awry, what other door(s) open up? If you focus on the positive, it will allow you to see all the potential possibilities available to you AND expose your enthusiastic nature to your superiors and clients. Don't think they don't notice — they do.

If a project is dropped, what did you learn while doing it? Where should you go next?
If a client leaves, how can you make their departure more elegant and inspiring? With the extra time open, how can you increase your marketing to get new and better clients?

It's how your react to problems that truly defines us as a professional.

What adversity did you encounter and what did you do to lighten up?