"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." ~ e.e. cummings
My previous blog post on New Years Day was all about releasing the old and creating the new. Little did I know that the very next day I was going to be given a golden opportunity to practice what I was preaching, to walk my talk. My job was eliminated as a result of downsizing! I was not expecting to begin the new year by falling off my own personal fiscal cliff. But there it was -- staring me in the belief system.
Once I got through the reaction, which was admittedly not very pretty and very highly emotional (shock, fear, limitation, denial and a dose of healthy anger) -- all probably pretty normal, I stopped, quite literally and with great effort, my negative thinking. I began to re-frame the event by reaching inside for what I know to be true at the deepest levels:
1) I am a creative, versatile, human being with many good qualities and a heart full of love and compassion.
2) I have survived and indeed thrived in the past while being self-employed, and recessions notwithstanding, I can do so again. I have many talents, ideas and goals with all kinds of potential and I have a deep, abiding faith in the goodness of life and in God who guides my being and my "doing".
3) And I have a wonderful support system of friends, family, business contacts and kind-hearted aquaintances to whom I can turn for recommendations, job leads, emotional support and gentle hugs. I am rich in all the ways that count! Plus, I have a lovely home and a great organic garden (thanks to my husband) and all is well.
So, if you have just joined the ranks of the unemployed, rather than letting your negative emotions overwhelm you and bring you into an even more stress filled place, try breathing deeply, getting quiet, and literally count your blessings. Write them down in a gratitude journal, and keep focused on them, adding to the list as new blessings come into your life. They are there if you can clear your vision long enough to see them. Coming from a place of gratitude and "enough-ness" will completely change your energy and your outlook and it will open doors and windows that you might never have imagined in a more negative, fearful state of mind. You don't have to be perfect. Just be yourself. Trust yourself. Find a path of service to others. Be grateful for all the gifts you have and apply your own unique creative mind and heart to create a satisfying, abundant future. After all, a crisis is just an opportunity standing on its head to get your attention :)
Once I got through the reaction, which was admittedly not very pretty and very highly emotional (shock, fear, limitation, denial and a dose of healthy anger) -- all probably pretty normal, I stopped, quite literally and with great effort, my negative thinking. I began to re-frame the event by reaching inside for what I know to be true at the deepest levels:
1) I am a creative, versatile, human being with many good qualities and a heart full of love and compassion.
2) I have survived and indeed thrived in the past while being self-employed, and recessions notwithstanding, I can do so again. I have many talents, ideas and goals with all kinds of potential and I have a deep, abiding faith in the goodness of life and in God who guides my being and my "doing".
3) And I have a wonderful support system of friends, family, business contacts and kind-hearted aquaintances to whom I can turn for recommendations, job leads, emotional support and gentle hugs. I am rich in all the ways that count! Plus, I have a lovely home and a great organic garden (thanks to my husband) and all is well.
So, if you have just joined the ranks of the unemployed, rather than letting your negative emotions overwhelm you and bring you into an even more stress filled place, try breathing deeply, getting quiet, and literally count your blessings. Write them down in a gratitude journal, and keep focused on them, adding to the list as new blessings come into your life. They are there if you can clear your vision long enough to see them. Coming from a place of gratitude and "enough-ness" will completely change your energy and your outlook and it will open doors and windows that you might never have imagined in a more negative, fearful state of mind. You don't have to be perfect. Just be yourself. Trust yourself. Find a path of service to others. Be grateful for all the gifts you have and apply your own unique creative mind and heart to create a satisfying, abundant future. After all, a crisis is just an opportunity standing on its head to get your attention :)
