This will be a difficult year, but in spite of the challenges, let's not despair. Throughout history, human beings have faced crises and have rallied and conquered them.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Even the dark clouds have their silver linings and beyond every crisis lies many opportunities. The great British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who took his country through the dark years of World War II stated, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Life is what we make of it

It is often said that life is 10 per cent what happens to us and 90 per cent how we respond to it. This is true in most instances. We can make a substantial difference to our lives by looking at our attitudes, our behaviour, and, most importantly, how we think. It is about changing our mindset. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When life gives us lemons, let's make lemonade.

We must be prepared to change

Difficult times require that we make changes in our lives. Those of us who are not prepared to change will be exchanged in the plan. The change you need to make may be in your current financial arrangement, living arrangement, the car you drive, the house you live in or the way you work. Many of us may need to start working smarter and not necessarily harder in order to achieve the same, or even better, results.

Let us think and act outside of the box

It is often said that our lives are perfectly designed to achieve all the results we are currently getting. If we want to receive and achieve different results we must be prepared to do things differently and to act differently. The people who are going to survive 2009 are the ones who are prepared to think and act differently.

Stop self-defeating attitudes

Many of us have been consumed by self-defeating attitudes, behaviour and thinking. Let us examine some of them. Procrastination - this is a big one. Some of us keep putting off things that need to be dealt with. For instance, do you keep putting off making a will, visiting the doctor, sorting out your title or putting your car up for sale? Make a list of the things you need to deal with. Ask yourself why you have been delaying taking a decision and put an action plan in place to address it.

Denial is another issue

Many of us, when faced with difficult decisions, tend to shove them under the table. We pretend that they do not exist, hoping to spare ourselves the pain and the need to face reality. Eventually, reality catches up with us. It is like the case of the lady who was told that she had a lump in her breast. She refused to accept it. Eventually, the lump developed into full-blown cancer. Many of us are in denial. Let's face the realities of our lives and take decisive action now.

Time to let go

I often tell the story of the fellow who was climbing the mountain, slipped and was hanging on to a thin edge. He cried to the Lord for help and was told to let go. Instead, he clutched the rocks. The following day a search party found him clutching the rocks with his feet only one foot above the ground. Had he responded to the call to let go, his life would have been spared. Many of us need to let go of past hurt, malice, unhealthy relationships and bad habits, as we move into this year.

So dear friends as we embrace the challenges of 2009. Let us do so courageously. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. (Winston Churchill)

Dr Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head, Section of Psychiatry, Dept of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies. Email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.