Dear Rachel,
I know these times are hard, and I also know things will get better. My question is this: How do we cope in the meantime? Morale in our media department is at an all-time low, and people feel little motivation to even to come to work. Everyone is worried about being let go in this sour ad economy. Any thoughts?--- Concerned in Chicago

Dear Concerned,
You're hardly alone, as you well know. Everyone is the media industry is feeling the pinch, both on the buy and on the sell side.

Two things to keep in mind, for whatever good they do.

First, it's going to get better, as you know.

Your job is to hold it together until then. Without waxing too philosophical, let me advance the idea that life is full of highs and lows, and that some of the best things in life happen during those lows.

The work must go on, life must go on, and you cannot eat your insides out in worry over what the next day will bring.

Second, I hear from my headhunters friends that we are now at a turning point.

Yes, people continue to lose jobs, but the pace of layoffs has eased some, and now some agencies are hiring again, if on a limited basis.

Over the coming months, there will be fewer layoffs and more hiring, and by spring there's some hope that a lot of people who lost their jobs in this recession will be back working--or at least those who haven't left the business.

This has been a very long ad recession, the longest since World War II, some contend, and the numbers seem only to get worse. But as I say, it's going to turn and I believe sooner than many think.

So keep your chin up.