Recession, economy, swine flu, blabbity blah ... it seems like everywhere you turn, there's doom and gloom. And it's hard to keep your chin up and know that it's all going to be okay when you're being bombarded with depression at every turn, isn't it?

Now there's a virtual answer to help dig you out of the doldrums. And the best part? You partner up with your best lady pal to do it.

Meet the Gratitude Groove, a 40-day empowerment program for women friends.

The Gratitude Groove was launched by Jill Daniel, who teaches alongside licensed therapist Mary Kay Cocharo. All the program takes is a 15 to 20-minute a day commitment, wherein you chat with your gal pal about the gratitude subject of the day (as e-mailed by Daniel), then journal your thoughts surrounding it. There are also periodic conference calls with other participants of the program. You and your friend can live on opposite ends of the earth, and as long as you have an internet connection and a phone, you can join up.

But what can you expect? Says Gratitude Groove graduate Angela Jackson, a PR specialist from Oakland, California, "I found it to be very profound and enlightening. It really affected my life – how I interact at work with my colleagues, with my family and my friends. It's amazing and very life changing."

Jackson did the program with a friend whose nephew had just lost his third battle with cancer, and was finding it hard to have gratitude for anything. The two made the commitment to the program for the full 40 days, and Jackson found she was not only relearning valuable lessons in a whole new way, but also having breakthroughs.

"I realized that the person I was dating at the time – the second time around! – was not worthy," Jackson recalls. "The GG allowed me to see this very clearly and validate all the doubts I had with this person, and more importantly, my relationship with him."

Jackson says she wanted to have something to look forward to every day, and after finishing her Gratitude Groove experience, continues to work on feeling gratitude every day. But ask her how she'd suggest it to someone else, and her answer is simple: "Just do it."

Check them out at GratitudeGroove.com!