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Have you started to feel as though the media has nothing better to do than report bad news about the bad economy?
FACT: That if the media couldn’t inject fear and negativity into your life with their gloom and doom reporting, they wouldn’t have a job at all?
I don’t think you’re too far off base. We’ve been listening to how bad things are since the start of 2007. The fact is, our economy is no longer in a recession and hasn’t been for some time. It’s true, the recovery has been slow, and lots of people are still out of a job. Many have lost their homes; due to foreclosure. But that kind of thing goes on even in a booming economy. The fact remains that as of October 2011 (Over 90% of people are still employed). That is pretty good! I’m not making light of the fact that some people are struggling; I’m just putting the situation in the proper perspective.
The cruelty of unemployment is that it steals part of your dignity. When you want to earn money but can’t find a job, 9.1% unemployment means nothing to you. You are either 100% employed or 100% unemployed. Either way, you can’t let “the economy” become your destiny. People win in every “economy” because of the choices they make. If this is your first “bad economy,” you may not know that many great companies and great careers have been born in the necessity of tough times. If you or a loved one is unemployed, it could become a blessing in disguise if the result is a small business or a new career choice you might have avoided in “good times.” I have talked to people all over the nation who are having the best year of their lives because they chose not to participate in the “bad economy.”
So think about your skills and interests. How can you leverage those passions into something you enjoy doing every day while earning money for it?
If you haven’t lost your job but dread going to work, maybe it’s time to fire your employer and go in a new direction. When you have a game plan for your money and career, you will have a sense of empowerment because you aren’t a slave to the lender (or employer).
Employers will start hiring when they believe their businesses will grow again.
They aren’t hiring now because many of them are still paralyzed by fear. People who continue going about their lives in normal ways (without being irresponsible and buying stuff they can’t afford) believe in the future. It’s called hope.
You can have fear or hope.
I choose hope. What do you choose?
Related articles
- Have the media and governments declared war on the poor? (politics.ie)
- Youth unemployment: The angry millions (independent.co.uk)
- Reality Check On Unemployment And Jobs (lezgetreal.com)
- Unemployed Doesn’t Mean Untaxed (turbotax.intuit.com)
- Deep Scars From a Brutal Recession (dailyfinance.com)
- BigMarker.com and Career Coaches Volunteer Career Development Services to Help the Unemployed Find Jobs (prweb.com)
- When The Unemployed Become ‘Effectively Unemployable’ (npr.org)
- Unemployment rockets past 2.5m to reach 17-year high (telegraph.co.uk)
- Adam Levin: Memo to Obama: Push for Jobs, Don’t Shove Employers (huffingtonpost.com)
- Gallup Releases Numbers On October Unemployment (lezgetreal.com)
- FSB: Small firms can help youth unemployment (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
- Job Numbers and How Lost Months Turn into Lost Years (into Lost Decades) (rortybomb.wordpress.com)
- Hiring seen as dismally weak in September | Reuters (policyabcs.wordpress.com)
- U.S. employers likely added few jobs in September (ctv.ca)
- US employers likely added few jobs in September (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- US employers likely added few jobs in September (sfgate.com)
- You: Pain of Jobs Crisis Extends Beyond The Unemployed Themselves - Huffington Post (news.google.com)
- Just Not In America (aleksandreia.wordpress.com)
- Permanent army of the unemployed (dmitryev.wordpress.com)
There will always be negative and positive news… we get to choose what we listen to. however, I don’t ignore the realities while being positive; we still have to make a choice. Things will get better, but for now they are quite bad for many families and my heart goes out to all who are struggling.
Thanks Eliz, yes many are struggling. We took in a homeless (battered wife) for 8 months last year on one salary. We give and give and do and do. This is what helps us through our tough times. Thanks for your comment as I admire your blog at http://eof737.wordpress.com/
Thank you for being a voice of hope in the midst of all this noice about hopelessness. This climate of fear and my being unemployed inspired me to take matters into my own hand. I am now working toward my new career, one that I have only dreamed of in the past. So many of the comments in your post ring true with me. AND my heart goes out to those who are still struggling, still trying to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.
Could you tell me what you are doing?
I can’t help but feel disgusted with the segments on the news shows about how to cope, redo your resume, start your own business, etc. I think “Yeah, you jerk, you have a job saying these empty things. It does not help when you will be evicted at month’s end, can’t fix the car and lost family health insurance. It enrages me to hear these discussions by politicians about this or that plan and then not doing anything and they say “Well the American people…” How dare they ! They have no idea of the total despair and desperation of far too many of “the American people”.
Carl, yes I so agree with you. I keep saying to myself, “things have to change” that they can’t go on forever as they are now. I am sick of the news but while I watch Andy Griffith each day the news follows and I need to hear the local news as I am not in a great area. I have never had health ins. I had a job for 12 years cutting Hair as a barber but when employers look at it, they don’t feel I am worth value to them. Then I list Security and all sorts of questions come to them. Or even in the paralegal degree I have, they never talk about those skills that could be valuable. It’s like a lottery system, if you are lucky to be selected for a job, that is just it you are lucky. Hogwash!
I Have fear only in one above , I`M not hopeless cause i`m still breathing
Very perceptive Jackie…well spoken!
Thanks laurie, I agree so much in that hope is held in high regards these days with getting a job. Business’ are not hiring, but what is amazing is all of the Job posts that CLAIM they are hiring.
Great post and you nailed it when you wrote that businesses aren’t hiring because of fear. Perception is the key component in value. I’m glad you choose hope, I do to but it is hard sometimes.