New Approaches to Self

Have you ever been shocked when you hear new information? Information that conflicts with your current belief system? I have.  Quite often, throughout my life, someone has presented me with a new way of doing things and I find myself rejecting their suggestion.

For many of us the tendency to immediately discard new information is a given, knowing that the status quo is the best way.  I have doubted the credibility of the information given me and I have even doubted the individual who is telling me about it.  My mind has quite often been closed. Has yours?

While in my twenties I was desperate for a cure for my ailing stomach among other complaints including fatigue.  I had been to several doctors with no results.  In fact, they told me, in the most tactful way possible, that there really was nothing wrong with me; it was all in my head.

I was lucky enough to be acquainted with a co-worker who had experienced something similar to me.  She told me about how she regained her perfect health.  Because I was desperate, my mind was open to any and all solutions around me.  As a result I discovered Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture. I embarked on a whole new world of preventative medicine, completely in conflict with any MD advice I had ever taken.  The results were absolutely astonishing!  And the beauty of it was, there were no negative side effects. Today. no matter what physical or mental issues arise, I turn to my Chinese herbalist. 

Keeping an open mind is the way to learn new things, expand our experience and provide ourselves the opportunity to gain knowledge and enrich our lives. In addition it can just be plain fun.

With today's economy creating a high level of unemployment, it is imperative that we keep our minds open; open to new ideas, open to new ways of doing things, open to suggestions from everything and everyone around us.  Closing down our minds and continuing down the same path that we have in the past may not be the solution.  It may cause us to remain in the same symptomatic state with undesired results. Let's not wait until we are desperate to open ourselves up to new ways of making a living.  In fact, let's take a look at doing things from the exact opposite angle.  Challenge yourself this week.  Put your profession up in front of the mirror and open your mind to what is reflected back to you.

Be True to You

I realize that being unemployed causes a storm within me not unlike a tornado; so much unpredictable energy swirling around with no particular direction in mind.  How good can that be for me or anyone in my midst?  Though I have found ways to keep busy and entertain myself, my brain is on overtime with no particular project driving it.  I suppose this could be a grand discovery about myself.  I need mental stimulation.

Not everyone was born to take part in the same occupation.  Companies and family units need unique differences in their participants in order to function successfully.  Your talents are just that; yours.  Keep them in mind and note your passions while job hunting.  You know what makes your heart sing.  No one else really does.  Well meaning friends may advise you of job openings here and there and even pressure you to apply because you need a job or because they see a benefit that is attractive to them. Rather than try to fit yourself into an open position that you see advertised, determine what YOU would do best at, what drives you, what excites you and determine how a position can serve you.  By serving yourself in the best way possible, you will be able to give back to the company you work for, tenfold what he has given you.  Smart employers know this.  Rather than just taking a position, any position, determine what kind of person you are, what talents and unique abilities you possess and what you love doing, and relay that to the company you'd like to be employed by. Companies that just want warm bodies are missing an important element to remaining successful and keeping employees long term. Smart companies hire individuals and place them where their talents are best utilized.

Make sure you are true to yourself during your job search.  Be who you are, go after what you want and set the panic over finances on the back burner. True up and by knowing yourself be certain you're going after what you need to avoid becoming a misdirected storm.  All will work out better than you could ever have imagined.

Is This What They Call "Self Employment?"

Can you recall the last job you held?  Can you recall being overwhelmed, feeling overworked and daydreaming about being home, lounging around, scavenging the frig and just doing whatever the heck you wanted to do?  Did you ever wish that you would get fired so you could take off on a road trip and play in the mountains and go fishing?  I did. I used to dream in desperation.

But today I've had about all I can take of being unemployed.  There's something to be said for feeling as though one has a purpose; even if that purpose isn't your life dream at the moment.

I have found that the chrome on the faucets does not get any brighter if I polish longer, my teeth can only feel so clean no matter how long I floss and I can only stay interested in baking french pastries for a short period of time.  Guess what?  The time for all of them is over.

I think we create our lives with our thoughts.  I got what I wanted.  Time off.  I took it, I dealt with it, I enjoyed it.  It's time to dream up a new life.  Maybe I should just crawl back into bed and fall asleep so I can get to dreaming.  But the fact of the matter is, I have had so much sleep in the last several months, I am certain I have reversed the aging process!  I must look like I'm 29 again.  I just know it. I bet you've been sleeping a lot too. C'mon! We all have.

This just goes to show that sometimes what we dream of having is not exactly what we want or need, long term.  It does, however, give us time to reflect when we have time off from the grind. My reflection has shown me that though I do not want to re-create the position I last held, I do want to create something.  Now, well-
rested, it is time to narrow down exactly what that is.

Let's quit moping and move toward becoming 'self-employed.'  Let's create the job we want for ourselves.  We know what it is...let's just fine tune it today.  God knows, we have time!

OUCH! If I'm in Pain, Do I Have to Look for a Job?

I don't know about you but when I'm in pain, I just want to lay still and growl.  As a result my job hunting got put on the back burner today and I scampered out of the house to the local massage practitioner's.  SOMEBODY needs business so I thought I'd do my part by patronizing her office.

Getting a massage has a beautiful way of clearing out the old junk.  Junk from the past, junk from the job you hated and junk that your ex said to you.  It all gets brought up and rubbed around and flushed out.  It's simply a lovely, therapeutic and totally human experience. I left her office purring.

I feel better this afternoon.  And I don't feel a darn bit guilty for taking the day off.  Looking for a job is just a big pain in the neck and it was time mine got a good rub.

Be kind to yourself today.  Don't worry if you didn't land a job this week.  Take care of you first and the rest of the world will follow suit.  You will find the job you want or create the one you've been dreaming of.  The important thing is to listen to your heart, your body and that funny little man inside your head that screams at you constantly, over the sound of the blaring music you listen to in the car.  He's telling you what you were born to do. You're just not listening.  Schedule a massage and be silent for an hour.  You deserve time off, even if you are unemployed.  And so does the little man in your head.  Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty!

Unemployment and Addiction - What Are You Hooked On?

I haven't told you before this but I think it is time you knew.  I am a member of my own little recovery club.  CA.  No, not California, Cola-Anonymous.  Yes, I am an addict.  I would stand up right now and announce it to the group but the group is me, and of course my dog.  But as you know, she loves me no matter what, the little enabler!

For quite some time I was on the wagon, doing well, drinking water and herbal tea, feeling like a million bucks.  Then one day I decided to have one, just one cola.  It was all down hill from there.  I have battled this addiction both while employed and when I am not working.  If it is in front of me, I will drink it.  If it is not, I choose water.  It's not like I tear the house apart seeking anything that remotely looks like it to ingest into my body.  Ahh...a left over remnant of a bottle of motor oil!  Let's water it down and meet the need.  NOT. There's just something about that tingly sensation and that cola flavor.  It just says a lip-smacking, ahhh.
So why has being unemployed quadrupled my little naughty sipping action from one can per week to two cans per day?  Habit.  I've developed a habit.  And that habit has evolved into an addiction.

Developing habits can have a positive or negative effect on us.  It simply depends on the habits we choose to develop.  Now in terms of myself, for instance, I have developed a nasty, nasty habit that has morphed into a daily addiction.  What do I or anyone else need to do in order to curb our addictions that do not enhance our lives?  Educate ourselves.

Last night I picked up a book on how to make a garden path out of stone and concrete.  The author stated, in step 8, that after applying the concrete between the stones, pour a can of cola over the stones to eat away any concrete residue that remained on them.  Concrete. My stomach. Concrete. My stomach! 

Today I read an article, as I sat sipping my concrete devouring cola, about how, besides leaching the magnesium, calcium and other valuable electrolytes from your body, the beverage acts exactly like heroine in your brain.  No wonder I like this stuff!  I always wanted to be a flower child!  Yeee-ikes!  It also explained my often erratic behavior about an hour and a half AFTER consuming the beverage.  I've caught myself on occasion, head spinning around on my shoulders, the whites of my eyes exposed, emitting alarming accusations from my scrunched up lips.  Now I know.  I was coming down; going through withdrawals.  And it has been my loved ones that have taken the beating as a result of my uncontrollable desire to feel bubbles bursting upon my tongue.

I'm second guessing my ability to make good decisions for myself today.  I believe I need to take a turn for the better and provide myself more education that will assist me in making positive changes for my body, my self and my career.

Since I would like to change the direction of my career, I believe I need to change the direction of my behavior.  Are you addicted to something that isn't good for you?  A career that makes you sick, by chance?  Are you looking for work in that same career because you know nothing else?

I'm going to start at the beginning.  And in the beginning, there was (and still is) water.  We are made up of, what is it, 85% water?  Either way, we're not made up of cola, cola doesn't make our bodies operate better, it makes our brains think we are on heroine and it certainly doesn't make us better at our jobs.  So why take on a habit that doesn't serve us, our families or the friends that we love? If your stomach is burning and if you find that your head spins at the end of your workday, or at the very thought of becoming re-employed in the same career, think it over.  Won't you join me in going back to the beginning, pouring a nice cool, refreshing glass of water and together taking a look at who we were before our bad habits took over?  Bottoms up!

I Wonder if My Dog Knows I'm Unemployed......???

Do you ever notice how dogs always know when it's time to get up, time to leave the house and what time the mailman will come by on any given day?  My dog, Isis,  never wakes me these days.  She just waits patiently until I open my eyes.  At that moment I can hear her tail tapping.  I raise up just enough to get a glimpse of her and there she is, happy as a lark, thrilled to see that I didn't die in my sleep.  She must know that I don't have a job. And the beauty of it is, I don't think she cares. 

Today I grabbed the car keys and invited Isis along on a trip to the store. We ended up on a drive along a country road that ended at a nursery where I purchased bulbs to plant. I'm going to pretend that the reason I purchased them is for a symbolism of seed ideas, planted now, erupting into beautiful displays under the warming rays of next year's spring. God knows it may be next year's growing season before I have a job so why not gather ideas, plant them, allow them to winter over and by spring they will all come to fruition?

My lovely dog stayed by my side. She trusts, without a doubt,  that soon I will work through all my get ready to get readies and be either employed by a company once again or gainfully self-employed.  Either way, she's happy.  She is fed twice a day and gets to chase balls, chew sticks and jump into the air and snap up flying bugs.  What more could a dog want?  They don't need to plan because they have mastered the art of living in the moment.  And I, during this time, am practicing doing the same.

Living in the moment is a gift that many of us have lost along our life path.  Dogs can remind us how exhilarating it can be. In observing my dog, I witness that the simplest of  pleasures create an all over bodily reaction from her. Just me walking into the same room celebrates that I've oversold my quota by 150%.  She's so appreciative that I simply live. No job has made me feel this good.

Let's take a lesson from our dogs and be thankful that during these times we have them by our side.  And if you aren't fortunate enough to own a dog of your own, may I suggest you walk one that belongs to someone else while you are jobless?  It will simply warm your heart. 

Does One Have to Look for a Job if it's Sunny Out?

Living in Seattle has its benefits. Sunny days are grand excuses to throw all responsibility aside and dash outside to play! The sun has been beckoning to me all morning but I stuck to the promise I made myself and enthusiastically scanned about the internet for employment. There are some new and interesting positions out there so let's not give up. Better yet, let's find new ways of networking this week as well as new ideas for supporting ourselves.

Since I have a newly found interest in the domestic scene with the kitchen being my favorite haunt, my attention has been directed to the food industry. Why not combine the skills I have with marketing some tasty new product? And you? I'm certain you are well aware of your abilities because if you're job seeking as I am, you have tweaked your resume' so many times you can recite it backwards. So take a look at what you have to offer and what your PASSIONS are! We are born to create the life we want so let's look at what we love, not what pays the bills. Pour your love into your new profession like batter into a cake pan and let's see what comes out of the oven.

Do you ever wonder how some people get so successful? Is it luck? I don't think so. They are the few that have followed their passions without succumbing to the fear that often wells up when we're on the road to our dreams. Pay attention to how you feel. If you feel good, you're probably on the right track. If you feel fearful, think about how you'd feel if fear was not in the picture. I believe I feel pretty darn good right now so with that said I'm going to embark on a new recipe. The Manhattan Clam Chowder, by the way, was exquisite!

Enjoy the sunshine and throw together your own recipe today. Let's see what you're made of!