Like Martha Stewart says......

It was a good thing.

This week, I found myself joining that sadly ever growing class of Americans known as the unemployed.  

I am twenty nine years old.  Since age fourteen, throughout high school, I have maintained continuous employment for fifteen years.  I have only taken three weeks of uninterrupted vacation during the past seven years with my primary and previous employer.  To be idle is an unnatural state and the prospect of its duration is certainly uncharted.

But today was the first day in as long as I can remember that a business owner did not require my services.  For many, unemployment is a morass from which escape seems unthinkable.  For others, it is a time of blissful existence so long as it can be afforded.   For the unfortunate, it represents a very real threat to not only their well being and pursuits of happiness but of their loved ones and dependents.

Of all of the avenues I have elected to pursue in seeking employment, launching this blog is perhaps the most exciting prospect.  I have always loved writing, and to have a chance to chronicle what is certain to be a pivotal crossroads in my life will at very worst, have some biographical significance.  But there are other reasons that, especially now that I have time, I wish to keep up this blog.

ACCOUNTABILITY  -  I've known far too many people who when faced with the ocean of unemployment recoil to the safety of X-Box live, boxed wine, and daytime television.  And while I've certainly enjoyed the fruits of all three of these trees, prolonged dance sessions with these seductresses of leisure seriously jeopardizes the likilhood that I will reach my eventual goal - permanent and fulfilling work with a quality employer.  

It is certainly a possibility that working as hard as I can will not yield the results I desire, and that external economic factors out of my control will prevent me from reaching my goals.  However, failure is a certainty should I permit paralyzation and inaction to become routine.  By honoring the responsibility to persevere and fight not only to myself and my loved ones but hopefully an engaged base of readers, I will put myself in the best possible position to succeed.  

POSITIVITY  -  Let's face it.  Negative news sells.  Are you more like to click on a story that talks about a positive development in the fight against cancer or a story that highlights the most recent percentage point uptick in the unemployment rate?  News organizations are paid by the click, and because we click on the negative, that's what's going to get emphasized.  That's not their fault, they're a for profit enterprise.  

Furthermore, I've spent far too much time in life wasting energy on people who are small, negative, and seem to have no other purpose than to destroy those around them.  They can generally be found like grains of sand in the comments section of a business news article or dwelling the forums of Craigslist.  They can be found at your current place of employment and have no means of addressing their own personal turmoil above and beyond dragging those around them to their level.  

Just as inaction guarantees failure, so to does unbridled negativity.  That isn't to say I advocate denying reality or playing Pollyanna, but for me to be successful, I need to channel positive energy.  The more I write, and hopefully the more people derive value from my words, the more positive energy I not only channel for myself but hopefully can spread to others.   

THERAPY  -  When you work for fifty hours a week, have a full time band, girlfriend, and an unquenchable desire to make sure you don't miss Rock of Love, it leaves precious little time for self reflection.   If I took one thing from my philosophy degree, it was a better (though still limited) understanding of what it takes to achieve true happiness.

You only get one crack at this life to the best of anyone's knowledge, and to deny yourself happiness and shackle yourself to misery disrespects your existence and your maker.  Still, every time I think I have it figured out, I continue to learn things about myself and experience that frustrating of feelings known as change.  Hopefully I will become a better person through my writings, and if I can help someone else shed insight on their own path, even better.

CAMRADERIE  -  People need people to survive, and despite my abilities, I wouldn't have made it to the point I am in life without the presence, intervention, and support of other people.  Hopefully, I've made a difference in someone else's life as well.  Relationships are what matter most in life, and hopefully, I'll be able to not only nurture and foster the ones I already have, but generate new friendships and camraderie.  

I've got a bit of a journey ahead of me, and I hope very much to share it with my family, friends, and any prospective readers.   I know that by putting in the work and staying positive, I am in a place in my life where I have a chance to seize destiny by the horns and be happier than I have ever been.

Thanks for reading, please subscribe or follow if you enjoy, and I'll continue to keep you updated!

It is a good thing.