Gas prices just keep going up. It's no fun and for many people this is making the monthly budget even tighter. But don't make a tough spot a disaster by listening to the proponents of doom.

It's not the end of civilization. U.S. fuel prices are raising to the point of being comparable to what people in Canada, Germany, and the UK have been paying for years.

It's a downer in a lot of ways but it's not doomsday incarnate and it's probably not a sign that god is about to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. So your first real step might simply be to get a grip and stop telling yourself and everyone else who will listen that the whole show is on its way down the drain.

Start looking for ways to thrive in the current adversity and stop putting so much stock in what you are told by the news media. The U.S. press is not what it once was and frankly the majority of reporting is hype, drama, sensationalism, and the generation of fear-based social obedience.

The fact is, most ultra-successful people in any society don't even bother watching the news! You won't find much legitimate info on the evening news or through the daily paper anyway and you can save yourself a great deal of stress and anxiety by simply cutting these sources of "information" out of your life.

If you want to stay connected to local and national events you can achieve this by browsing the headlines of any news site. Relevant updates such as election results, weather reports, and stock market activity can all be acquired in less than 15 minutes of daily skimming.

In addition to adjusting your intake of pre-packaged "news" it is highly recommended that you avoid being part of the social herd mentality. Fear is the main focus of the public consensus at this time, whether it's fear of terrorism, fear of higher gas prices, fear of identity theft, or whatever.

Ask yourself these questions:

How did people feel during the Cuban missile crisis?

How did the public react to the oil shocks of the 70's?

What was the public response to the Y2K scare?

How did the masses respond to the events of Sep. 11 2001?

In the above scenarios there was panic, fear, and extreme anxiety. Yet here we are today, survivors of these and other periods of turmoil.

Problems are part of life. But the nature of life is perseverance and even prosperity. You aren't going to die if gas prices keep going up, nor will many other dramas reported urgently by the media spell the end of your days.

So decide right now to take charge of your attitude and stop letting the gloom and doom reporting of today's press beat you into a state of fear and melancholy!

Life is great. Live every moment in as much gratitude as possible and look joyously forward to the next one. This is pretty far from the marching orders you're currently receiving from your evening news anchor but if you try it on for just a couple of weeks you may never go back to letting the "official" line dictate your attitude toward life.