How to stay positive during a trip to the welfare office

Sistas, poverty is a bitch. Being broke and in debt are close behind. As a self-employed writer/editor, I've seen both. (Not for too much longer, thank you God.)

From time to time I have to make the trek to Human Services to deal with my medical benefit. Even though it's not as chic as, say, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, it has helped me tremendously with a past surgery and medicine. So I'm thankful for it.

Yesterday I went to take care of some business. Usually I keep my head in a book until my name is called, but instead I decided to do some people watching.

One woman's cell phone went off and the security guard barked, "No talking on cell phones!"

A gentleman ate sweets and candy while standing in line. He moaned and groaned with every bite. He offered an elderly man some of his food, and the 2 ate and moaned with pleasure.

A young mother took her 2 young children to the rest room. The boy was screaming for attention.

A staff member came into the building and said "Good morning" to everyone, clients included.

A client around my age came in, hobbling on a cane. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. The first person in line let her go in front.

There was a lot of noise in the area behind closed doors, a lot of talking and laughing. It made you wonder if any work was getting done while we waited and waited. A client kept saying, "Tell them to be quiet back there. Get to work!" Then she turned around to me and apologized. "It's just that they were so loud," she said.

How do you stay positive amidst all this humanity? How did some Jews survive the camps with their sanity in tact? How were some African slaves able to smile and love during horrendous conditions?

How do we, as single, trying-to-be celibate women, keep the loneliness at bay?

There are millions of nightmare scenarios that can boil down to just one question: how do we stay positive in the midst of the storm?

We make a decision to stay positive, and then we take one positive action. This will make you strong and you'll feel so much better about your circumstances.

For example, after I left the welfare office, I went home and did some writing. Did more research on my business activities.

Your greatest leaps forward will be made in the midst of life's greatest challenges -- IF you can remember to not give into hopelessness and IF you take one positive action. Make this a habit.

Every time you take one positive action in the midst of a negative situation, you literally propel yourself into the future that you desire.