That something-Chinese medicine-is about 180 degrees from engineering but it allows her to do something she's always wanted-help people in a hands-on way.

She first took up her new vocation as something to do when her big job went under. Worried about the prospect of layoffs, she wanted a new profession that could earn her a living. But now that she's immersed in the new field, she's become passionate about it. Although she's still training, she's already thinking and acting like someone who had planned to do this all of her life.

Not everyone finds a new vocation so easily, but there's something to be learned from a person who takes a bad situation and turns it into an opportunity. Instead of wallowing in the moment, he or she makes a plan to move on and finds something unexpected. My engineer friend found a new career, but not everyone has to go that far.

Trying times like these, with the industry in a lingering recession and rising unemployment, are times when many of us feel like throwing up our hands and giving in to negative thoughts.

It's easier to think about bad things that may happen than to hope and plan for better days.

What the story about my engineer friend has taught me is that to carry on, one must find a passion. Whether it's new or old, it should be something that makes one want to get up in the morning, sing in the shower and hum to the radio on the drive to work. Without passion, life and work become a dull routine.

The answer for every engineer who has been laid off or who fears a layoff might not be to find a new profession, but it might mean rekindling the excitement that made him or her become an engineer in the first place.

Don't worry about the big picture, when the downturn will turn up, or when the employment picture will brighten. Those things are not under any individual's control. What is under your control is improving your situation and finding the opportunity in this downturn. Engineering is a wonderful profession that lets engineers create inventions that have a lasting impact on society. Surely there are products to be designed, new companies to be formed and even new industry sectors to be created, even now. Those are good places to start.