“The economy stinks.” “It’s tough out there.” “The unemployment rate is at an all-time high.”

You hear these phrases every day all around you, from friends, family, radio, and the talking heads on TV. Like the incessant dripping of Chinese water torture dealing out its gentle violence on the pliable minds of prisoners, these sound bytes are slowly eroding our psyches in the midst of an economic incarceration we have created.

Even if the cold hand of joblessness has yet to wrap its icy fingers directly around your wallet, there is no easy escape from the reality of the recession because surely you know a few, if not many people, who are affected by varying degrees of difficulty and despair, whether it’s a foreclosed home, lost work, or a discontinued business.

This challenging time in our history, however, is providing an opportunity. That’s right, I said it (wrote it, actually): Opportunity. You laugh at such a silly word in the midst of such troubling times, but an awful economy that is hurting everyone means that there is an opportunity for individuals to be more inventive and resourceful in providing for themselves and their families. Now, more than ever, it is time to take ownership of imagination and desert your reliance on employers providing for you, or to rethink your original approach to starting a business of your own.

I used to write for a magazine focusing on area entertainment, but when things started going downhill, advertisers’ budgets dried up and our pages dwindled down to pathetic levels. Despite his best efforts, my publisher had to take his turn at the table with the dodo and concede defeat, and I was left with two week’s salary and a lifetime’s quota of discouraging sighs.

I spent months applying for editorial and copywriting jobs, but my chosen industry was as dead as the hair falling out of my head and the skin I was gnawing off my cuticles. As my checking account approached $0, I put my car up for sale at www.backpage.com/34543245 (noting that although the desperation of my situation was personally unprecedented, I was at least thankful for my city’s efficient public transportation). I ended up selling my ’02 Subaru Outback quickly and without haggling to a nearly but not wholly obnoxious young man named Tom, affording me a couple more months of breathing room. Three weeks later, after getting a bite from a healthcare company looking for a grant writer, but that was located outside of the city and required the new employee to own a car, I went online to see what kind of deals were out there. To my surprise, I saw my old car posted for $2500 more than what I sold it for. I still had Tom’s number, so I called him and, with an edge in my voice that took both of us by surprise, asked him what he was up to. With a matter-of-fact energy, Tom explained that after he was fired from his software engineering job, he started ‘flipping cars’ for a living, and made more money than he ever did before.

Intrigued, I asked him if I could meet him for lunch the next day, and he happily agreed. Over a couple of club sandwiches and iced tea, Tom told me how to take advantage of the tough economy by buying and selling cars online. This is what he said:

“See, there are a couple of factors that actually play into your advantage in this business during a recession. One: people selling their cars right now, like you, are willing to get rid of them at under Blue Book value, because immediate money in hand has never been so vital for survival. Two: electronic equipment and car parts are cheaper, because demand is so low. All I did to your Subaru to justify the higher price was buy and install an MP3 player and new speakers. I still have to sell it at a discount online, because people are avoiding showrooms and car lots, but because I don’t need money right away, it will be less of a discount than the one you were willing to make. After cost and installation- which you have to do yourself to turn a decent profit- I made about $1000 off your ride. I average about seven to ten a month, ranging from $500-$2000 each, so you can do the math.”

Walking back to the train after lunch, I pondered what Tom had said. The next day, I logged back on to www.backpage.com/34543245, bought a ’97 Honda Accord for $1500 with the money I made from selling the Subaru, and sold it two weeks later for $3200 after installing new sport tires and a Sirius Satellite Radio, which cost me a total of $800. Like Tom, I continued to flip cars and still do. I average ten to fifteen a month, each ranging from $500-$2000 profit.

You do the math.