(fun)employed

In many ways, this past year has been one of the most life-changing seasons for me. It has definitely been a year full of ups and downs. At the end of September, the paper I was working for ended up closing down, and for the first time in a long time, I was unemployed and unsure of what to do next.

During my first month of unemployment, I was extremely hopeful, applying to different jobs every day and praying that one of them would be a good fit for me. I thought for sure that someone would be interested in me, and that I would find a full-time job sooner rather than later.

Then a couple of months passed with no luck. I continued to apply to jobs every day, but I grew more and more frustrated. To be honest, I truly thought God had abandoned me. I prayed every day that I would find something great, and it just seemed like no one was really there listening. I was putting in all of this hard work and not seeing any results.

I have to admit, there have been times this year when I’ve felt really depressed about my situation and really been negative about everything I’m going through. At the same time though, I have also found ways to motivate myself and stay positive, and that’s what I’d like to share with you. Even if you’re not going through a period of unemployment like me, hopefully you’ll be able to use some of these tips for any hardship that you’re trying to work your way through.

✄ ✎ Find something to focus on

When I lost my job, I really felt like I had just lost my purpose. There was nothing there for me to work toward every day. I made it a point to apply to as many jobs as I could every day, but it wasn’t enough for me to feel like I was really doing anything.

Many people find self-worth in having a job, and since I didn’t have that, I knew that I would have to find something to focus on and keep me motivated. Because I had been struggling with my weight for some time, I decided that I was going to put my energy into becoming healthier and working out more. I started seeing a nutritionist, logging my food every day and even took on the challenge of running. While I wasn’t necessarily seeing big results in my job search, I was starting to lose weight little by little and build stronger muscles, so I still felt like I was accomplishing something.

That really helped me to stay positive while I continued to search for a job. Obviously, health is only one out of thousands of things that you can choose to focus on. Just find something enjoyable that you are able to work on every day, and I promise you will start to feel more motivated.

✔ Make a routine

After the first few months of unemployment, I was feeling pretty down and frustrated with the lack of results. It would have been so easy for me to wallow in bed all day and refuse to do anything. Some days, that is definitely what I felt like doing, but instead, I chose to get up and continue working toward goals that I had.

The first step to creating a routine is making a schedule. I forced myself to get up every day at 7:30 a.m., even if I didn’t have something I needed to get ready for. I am most definitely not a morning person, but there is something about getting up early that makes you feel more motivated to take on the day.

I also set aside time every day for certain tasks. I decided that I would start working out at 9:30 a.m. every weekday morning, and I have pretty much stuck to that throughout the year. I also set aside a certain time before lunch to devote to job searching.

For me, one of the things I like most about having a job is having the same schedule every day. But just because I didn’t have a full-time job didn’t mean that I couldn’t create a schedule for myself. Knowing that I had things to work on every day and items that I could check off a list at the end of the day was so helpful to me in staying positive and continuing on.

You may be going through a bad time in your life, but you can’t let that stop you from doing things. Create a routine for yourself, and really commit to the things you want to accomplish every day. It’s okay to feel sorry for yourself and take a break every once in a while, but you have to keep going. Having a schedule can help keep you motivated and push you to get through whatever obstacles you face.

✞ ✟ Have faith

Like I mentioned earlier, there have definitely been times in the past year when I’ve felt like giving up. It didn’t seem like anything was going to happen for me, and I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere with my job search.

While it’s completely understandable to feel defeated when you’re going through a rough patch, you should always have faith. Even though it may seem like God has abandoned us in our toughest times, He is there for us no matter what. In fact, these struggles may be put in front of us to teach us something.

I know for me, this period of unemployment has allowed me to learn more about myself than I have during any period in my life. I was able to work on fitness and health goals that I never would have if I had been busy with a full-time job. I also took the plunge and decided to start my own blog since I had so much free time to spare. Even though losing my job was initially a very negative thing, I was able to create some positives out of the experience.

God has a plan of purpose for each of us. Even if it doesn’t seem possible, we should never forget that we will find our way back to the right path. Life is full of ups and downs. All of these struggles that we go through will turn into valuable lessons in the long run, we just have to work our way through them.