The following is an excerpt from "Adventures of a Beginning Investor," a blog by Motley Fool employee Molly Pinson Simoneau (TMFOperaRocks). She works in the Fool member services department.

It's a busy Monday morning here at the Fool. I'm trying to wrap my brain around the new software we're using in Member Services, and meanwhile every single stock I own is hurting. We're talking bleeding, festering wounds here. Let's just do a quick run-down, shall we?

Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) is costing me over 13%. Energy Solutions (NYSE: ES), a stock that I bought a bit impulsively, has fallen a whopping 35% from $7.15 to $4.60. Even Dole Foods (NYSE: DOLE), which had been my best performer for weeks is now almost 3% below my buy price. And my newest stock, Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is my only position that is beating the market, but it's down a percent since I bought it two or three weeks ago.

This is a bit discouraging. Right now, I'm feeling like this money would have been better off sitting in cash so that I could have used it last week when my car started acting funny. Or maybe I could have put it into savings so that my husband and I could put it toward the house we're shopping for.

But I'm going to try to be Foolishly rational here. I'm pretty sure my stocks have just been affected by skittish investors who are scared of a "double-dip" recession. I'm going to try to play it cool, and over the next few days, check on the news related to the companies I own to make sure there are no legitimate red flags.

How do you keep a level head when the market's got you down?

Fool user Melaschasm responds:

My stock investing is in retirement accounts, which makes me less tempted to use the cash to buy a TV or go on vacation. Since I will not be cashing out these accounts for another 30 years, I can focus on long-term results, not short-term swings ...

And HarryCarysGhost adds:

I would ask, what is the timeframe for buying the house? If it's within the year, your money probably shouldn't be in stocks. Now is definitely a great time to be a home buyer but I say a hefty down payment will save a fortune on interest.

Do you have any advice for Molly? Drop it in the comments section below.