There is a lot of turmoil up and down the ranks of the pulp and paper industry these days. If you are under forty years old, you may not have seen this before and it may make you quite nervous when it comes to your own employment. Being nearly 76, I have seen this many times. In fact, the industry was in a slump when I joined it.

Here is what you need to consider if you have not considered it before. Many years ago, I was in the hospital fighting lymphoma (this happened more than once). You can probably appreciate the times when one feels most depressed in these situations are late evening, along about ten or eleven pm.

One night when I was feeling particularly despondent, I had my computer out and was looking at the longevity curves for my particular type of lymphoma. It was at that point I had an epiphany. The entire curve did not represent me; I was only a point on the curve. There were points with a very short lifespan and there were points with a very long lifespan. I "chose" to be one of the points with a very long lifespan (I am a spiritual guy, I know I had little to do with this in actuality).

From that day forward, I got better. I was diagnosed with lymphoma on Valentine's Day in 2000. I would say I have been on the very long points on the curve--26 years.

Your career is the same thing. You can read the newsletters and so forth and get down because they are talking about the averages. Don't be average, be your own place in the pot and watch out for the stirring spoon!

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.