Fifty third week-No rest for the weary

This past week I sloughed through a nasty cold trying to maintain my job search in hopes that something will come up. As all who have been unemployed for a long period of time knows, there is always a danger of falling ill and not being able to pay medical bills. Scary stories abound of people being left out on the streets because they can no longer afford to live in the apartment or house they lived in for years. You try to put a good face on it, telling everyone around you that everything will be alright when inside you feel like screaming.

When you're fighting an illness, it becomes even tougher to find work. I do believe that long term unemployment does rob your health, if you let it. Stress from trying and failing to be someone one you're not often brings on illness as well. There doesn't appear to be any rest for the weary. You do get to the point where your body feels like it wants to shut down....yet you keep pressing. Stop it! Even the Lord took a break to go off by himself.

You need to schedule a vacation for yourself...take one week and just don't do anything at all. So, that's what I'm going to do next week....take a break before I end up really sick.

Fifty second week-"Celebrating" one year of unemployment

It's funny when you really stop and think about it. You want to cry for all the lost time where you could have been productively working. No one ever tells you about the day to day struggles you'll have to keep motivated while at the same time trying desperately to prove that you're worthy of being employed by "fill in the blank" company. Everyone instead tells you that you have to keep your chin up and keep pressing on.

When you are in your twenties, it's easy...so they say. Yet I know for a fact that it is just as hard if not harder for people in their twenties as it is for those that are in their thirties, forties and fifties. I'm guessing that quite a few young people have given up on the job market for a variety of reasons. If you have been following this blog religiously then you know that I do list at least two major factors which don't have anything to do with age.

I guess that makes some of us feel a little better. Do I feel like celebrating? No. I don't think any of us that are still struggling to find work after a long period of time have anything to celebrate. Yet, like I said in my last post, I can't give up hope. I can look forward, and reassess where I go from here. I do like the fact that in my state that I can get the help I need to reassess my options, and maybe get some retraining.

What everyone who has been unemployed as long as I have wants a potential employer to know is this: "Please give us a chance. We just need a chance to prove ourselves to you as a good worker. Please stop discriminating against the long time unemployed and bring us to the top of your list for employment. We may pleasantly surprise you."

Fifty first week-Hanging onto hope

I have to admit that it was really tough this week to hang onto hope. You worry so much about the impression you are making on-line and whether or not you are showing a true portrait of yourself to the world. Do they like me? Will I have to compromise my beliefs in order to get a job? What are my next steps? It is enough to really mess you up. I think and I believe that I have to be true to myself and others. I can't be the chameleon that some expect me to be. I have to question why when push comes to shove that employers shy away from people that are willing not to be that chameleon. Doesn't any company respect the qualities and moral values that we've all (at least those of us who had a stable family life) grew up with?

It frightens me too that so many are too willing to label anything contrary to the ever shifting moral base as a hate crime. It also makes me wonder if that's not the reason why I'm still unemployed after so much time has passed. Where is the boundary on this? How many hoops do I have to jump through to make an employer hire me? What am I willing to do in order to secure a position anywhere? All these questions have been surfacing in my mind as I continue diligently to find work.

After this length of time, my situation has become quite desperate like most of the people I've reached out to in the past weeks. I have to constantly tell myself that I do have something to offer and that I'm valuable. Otherwise I can see myself slipping into that deep dark pit of despair again. For some this will be the end literally. There are no hard and true statistics out there of people who have literally given up and decided that life is no longer worth living. Yet I do believe that being unemployed for long periods of time drains you of life and the ability to function.

So how do you pick yourself up? For me, it's my faith in God that has sustained me through this deep and dark trial. I know he will provide my every need because he's doing it right now. That's why I can't compromise on my core values of honesty and integrity even if it means that I remain unemployed.

Fiftieth week-Looking Up and Finding Hope

I had another good week this week reflecting on sacrifices made. I realized that as much as I'm struggling right now, there are others out there that are completely and totally lost. You know who you are. I don't have to say anything right now, because I've been there. I've looked up from the pit of despair and frustration, only to find that people will mock your stand. The only way out is to find that bit of hope, that ray of sunlight in an otherwise gloomy situation. I never expected to be out of work this long.

There is some movement in the job front. I know I have to steel myself for disappointment if I don't get the position I interviewed for this week. I have a feeling though that this job is a good fit for me. I am going to find hope in the positive response I received and do the hard work I need to do. It is scary...this waiting for someone to pick you from the rest of the candidates. You worry about what impressions you made or if they'll hold the fact that you've been unemployed so long against you.

I have to stop and leave it in God's hands, not my own. That's the bottom line. If God wants me there, he will make a way for me to be there. He's done it before. He knows my needs and has fulfilled them completely every time.