It has been a couple of hard months dealing with the ripple effects of unemployment. Lapses in benefits, our mortgage in forbearance, a dress I had my eye on for a while being sold, drinking only home-brewed coffee, and the shift of schedule because I went back to work has been a lot to deal with. And on top of all that, my husband has sent out 41 resumes resulting in three interviews and zero job offers. I lashed out at my husband the other day. I can not even remember why. But I know one of the reasons for the nastiness was that I lost my hope. And I let worry get the better of me. I forgot that with hope, all things can be endured, even unemployment.
How to spell HOPE when your unemployed.
I have been putting my anagram for the word HOPE into practice. I am more cheerful because of my effort to live HOPE. When you are in good cheer, life is better.
H is for Hold your tongue. We have had some rough spots during our marriage. Unemployment is starting to rank as number one. I keep remembering all the times I wished we had been better with our financial concerns. Rehashing the past money handling mistakes has nothing to do with why we are struggling today. It’s just a way to express the fear that overwhelms me. I also seem to have developed an opinion of our government. I keep hearing about financial aid on the news, but it is for other people or is no longer offered. I had to hold my tongue and not spew how unfair it is. Word vomiting about how hard dealing with unemployment is will help no one. I have had to hold my breath, take a walk, and even stuff my mouth full of food in order not to speak so despairingly.
O is for Oh-Well. We have a budget, shop according to our needs and within our means. But no job means no spending. I was surprised to note that I miss shopping, and would shop off-budget. If I saw some cute shoes that were not too expensive, I would just buy them without too much thought. Or, if my husband did not feel like cooking dinner, I would be the first to suggest ordering out. Realizing this, I became rather down. There was a lot of negative self-talk going on in my head: Phrases like “Of course, it would be on sale now”, “I like that! Too bad we can’t spend any extra money”, “so much for my plans.” It’s so draining to examine every dollar that we spend. I had to counter the negative tone of my thoughts with a more hopeful mindset. Now, when looking at all the pretty things, I have much healthier self-talk. I say “Oh-Well” followed by one uplifting thought. Here’s an example of how I use my “oh-well” self-talk: The other day I saw a nice outdoor seating set and hopefully said, “Oh well, I will keep that in mind!”
P is for ‘preciate- Ok, it is “appreciate” but for the sake of my blog. Humor me. My husband has to expand his job search, which means possibly moving out of state. The fact that he is still looking for a job causes us to think selling our house might be best. It’s odd, but being unemployed and the questions that come with it has confirmed we love the life we have built for the two of us, the state we are in, and the building we call home. With the layoff not being our decision, it has given us a chance to evaluate where we are in life. We understand that a change is coming. Until then, we hold to the truth that we ‘preciate life as it and find contentment where we are.
E is for Encouragement -it is important to note past successes. Not being able to provide for our family is hard on my husband. Unemployment has cast a shadow on our current circumstances but not past achievements. Those past efforts have made it possible for us to handle this so well. We have made a lot of headway with paying off our credit cards, downsizing, and living simply. When we start to lose hope on the ground we have made, we are quick to acknowledge a project or a task that was successfully completed.
The way through unemployment is with hope. And with hope this season of unployment will be looked back on as one where we tried our best to make the most of a trying situation.
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