Dealing with Pain for the Unemployed

“Positive Thinking Is…

…not always the easiest course of action
when confronting difficulties.
If, however, we can remain focused
on keeping hope strong and
not succumbing to negative influences,
we will meet with success
in dealing with anything
life may throw in our path.”
Hiram Rogers Lloyd

Truer words have not been spoken, staying positive is not the easiest thing to do. The feelings of fear and sadness overwhelm us in a flash.

What are we to do?

My old stand-by is to let them come and know the feelings are temporary moments. You will make it through and the feelings will fade.

The other day I was writing an article and all of a sudden the pain of loss returned in such intensity that I could not breathe. My initial reaction was to do something that would make me feel better.

I ran out to my car and went to the local Duncan Donuts for coffee. To my surprise the pain remained. Coming home the tears started flowing and I was once again consumed by my sadness and fears.

I then tried affirmations and wrapped myself in a blanket. Nothing worked. Just sitting there with my coffee and not moving the pain started to lessen. Within time I was starting to feel better.

What I learned from this experience was not to fight my emotions, be with them and within time my mood brightened. I was then able to function again and complete the article.

Nothing in this world will take our feelings of fear and sadness away. Our only line of defense is to experience the moment and have hope things will get better.

Please share with the Unemployed Community what fears and sadness you are experiencing. Letting others know your true feelings will take the pain away and together we will create a positive journey for us all.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Helen

Fear Plays a Big Part in the Life of the Unemployed

“Of all the liars
in the world,
sometimes the worst are
your own fears.”
Rudyard Kipling

Your own FEARS play such a big part in your life especially while traveling on the familiar unemployed path.

I once heard fear is "False evidence appearing real." We are experts at telling ourselves we will never find another job, my family hates me because I am unemployed, I am a failure, etc… In reality none of these fears are true.

Let’s stop here and take a deep breath. Close your eyes and say out loud, "I am safe and opportunities are popping up all the time.”

Reassuring ourselves we are safe and something will happen are our magic keys for feeling okay and giving ourselves the motivation to continue riding the waves of this journey.

What could you do differently today so the creative juices keep flowing and new opportunities are surfacing?

Take a moment before jumping into any new action and think about your past experiences. What worked and what didn’t?

Little exercise you can do:
• List 5 actions you took that worked.
• List 5 actions you took that did not work.
• Review both lists.
• Pick the most successful action step.
• Chose the the most disastrous one.
• Create an action step that takes into consideration both the successful and disastrous ones.

Doing this exercise you will realize what steps worked and which didn’t. Then you can move forward and create an action steps taking both aspects into consideration.

Please share with the Love Yourself – It Matters Community your most successful and disastrous action steps. We can learn from each other.

Remember to play our little game. Wednesday is a day for Miracle Awareness. During the day look for miracles, write them down and say them out loud.

It is very lonely being out here alone and would like to hear what is going on in your life. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Helen

Being Selfish While on the Unemployed Journey

“Sometimes it seems I've spent my life
trying to live up to others' expectations of me,
and failing. I never thought much about pleasing myself.
That would have been "selfish."
--JoAnn Reed

Isn’t it ironic we spend most of our lives trying to please other people and never thinking about what would make us happy?

Then when we lose our job we blame ourselves and never take into consideration it could be a blessing in disguise. How many of us hated our job and always thought, “Only if I could find another job that I really loved?”

Now that we are traveling the unemployed journey we keep thinking our last job was the perfect job. We have a tendency to always turn our thinking around and put things we lost on a pedestal.

Let’s get real here for a moment and think about what you hated about your last job.

Here is your opportunity to start pleasing yourself, maybe for the first time in your life, and find a job that will make you happy.

This is not an easy task!

Some little steps you can take to start the process:
• Think back through the years about what made you happy. Examples: being with people, drawing, crafts, writing, science, etc.
• List these ideas on a piece of paper. Be honest this is for your eyes only.
• Rate them from 1 to 3. One being the least interesting and three brings a smile to your face.
• List all the number one ideas.
• Chose which one really makes you excited.

Once you have decided which one makes you energized it is time to explore your options.

For today think about your new found realization. Tomorrow is another day and we can explore your options.

Enjoy the happiness you are experiencing!

Share your uncovered passion with the Love Yourself – It Matters Community. Remember…we are all in this together. Let’s make this unemployment journey a time of learning and turning our lives around.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Helen