THE STOCK MARKET!!!!

OK so it is no secret that I am new to this "investment" business, and having a portfolio is an oddly strange and new thing that makes me feel grown up in a way I never have before. So I get my statement from TIAA-CREF last night, and open it in breathless anticipation...what IS this big fat envelope? What wonders will it contain? An advertisement...some information...and a STATEMENT! Oooh, proof of my first $15 deposit to my RETIREMENT account (can you imagine?) I unfold the sacred page, and to my dismay, see that my initial investment (that's right, I, Carey Blueberry, am INVESTING, for God's sake) has ALREADY shrunk by $.23!!! That's right, my retirement fund, my first little seed, is SHRINKING. Talk about today's economy hitting home. I mean, you wouldn't think that a little tiny nugget like that would be affected, but affected it is. Sigh. Well, all we can do is batten down the hatches and ride it out and hope for the best, and try to think of more platitudes with which to sooth myself.