If Job Could Bounce Back, Anybody Can

I guess I must have sounded pretty down in my last blog post, because some very caring family and friends expressed concern about my emotional/mental state.  I am fine!  I’ve been through plenty of life’s ups and downs and I’ve learned how to bounce back.  For years I’ve had a little sign on my wall that says, “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails.”  I’ve done a little adjusting the past week or so and I am now ready to resume sailing.

What helped me was to withdraw a little from the intensity of my job search.  I had to pull back some, coddle myself a bit: you know, enjoy my favorite comfort foods, do what I felt like doing, or not doing, when I felt like (or didn’t feel like) doing it.   After making an extra effort to nurture me for about a week, I am feeling much better now. 

Coincidentally, the other day I was reminded of the story of Job (from the Old Testament).  Remember Job?  He lost nearly everything and everyone he had and became terribly ill.  While enduring every kind of difficulty imaginable, he sometimes needed to express how awful it was.  In one of the readings at Mass this past Sunday, Job lamented about his seemingly hopeless situation.

Job 7: 1-4, 6-7

¹ Is not human life on earth just conscript service? Do we not live a hireling's life?

² Like a slave, sighing for the shade, or a hireling with no thought but for his wages,

³ I have months of futility assigned to me, nights of suffering to be my lot.

⁴ Lying in bed I wonder, 'When will it be day?' No sooner up than, 'When will evening come?' And crazy thoughts obsess me till twilight falls.

⁶ Swifter than a weaver's shuttle my days have passed, and vanished, leaving no hope behind.

⁷ Remember that my life is but a breath, and that my eyes will never again see joy.

Yet after everything Job went through, even though he was sure that “my eyes will never again see joy,” things eventually did get better for him.  If Job could bounce back, anyone can.  And just so I’m not misunderstood about this, I am not comparing my relatively trivial troubles to Job’s!  The reminder of his story just gave me an even better perspective about things.

So the job hunt has resumed.  I’ve applied for several new jobs and am continuing to network.  I’m also considering other options, such as self-employment.  People often say, “Why don’t you start your own business?” as if that’s so simple, the magic solution to unemployment!  It’s not.  It’s one thing to freelance off and on, as I’ve done, but another thing to actually make a living doing it.  So I’m analyzing if I can do that.  For example, today I attended a webinar on the subject of the “Top 10 Traits of a Successful Freelancer: Have What It Takes?” 

Truthfully, I’m not sure that I do, but I’m pondering the possibility.  There are three more webinars on the subject this month (offered by the Association for Women in Communications at www.womcom.org – I’m a member of the New Jersey chapter of this great organization).

In the meantime, I’ll just continue my pursuit of becoming, as Job put it, a “hireling.”