Friday 23 January 2009

It's Official

It was announced today that we are in recession......no kidding!
Well at least we know that the powers that be realise it.

We are in it.........it's moving ..........and it will end.

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Looking Forward

I did write in my last posting that I didn't like the word Redundancy, I was in fact thinking of never using it again.

That would mean changing the title as well or adding to it to project it in a positive way. In effect to try an diffuse the negative overtone of the 'R' word, because as I believe it maximizes it's power, so I want to do that in a more positive way.

Essentially, I have decided that is what this blog is about anyway, being positive.

I am still unemployed and I have been asked on more than one occasion, " am I not worried about it?" And my response is "no!" Because worrying will not change anything, it won't make me get a job any sooner, it will probably just make me miserable and everybody else around me.

People do sympathise with you and they know that its not your fault but they don't want to listen to you moaning about how worried or miserable you are.

I know that I have said that "its good to talk" and it is, but people respond better to you if you at least try to be up beat and confident.

I might point out the word 'Try'.

Again it has negative overtones as it is a precursor to failure. A much better word to use in its place is, Will, as it is positive and lends itself to success.
A subtle difference , some may even think that I am just being pedantic. But there is no point in me writing about being positive and leaving subliminal negativity all around me.

Anyway:

You could look at it this way, you have two or three months of redundancy or longer and you spend it worrying. In that time you have several interviews perhaps, but all that worrying has taken it's toll.

Your confidence is at an all time low and you even doubt your own abilities now as well as keep blaming yourself. So you enter the arena of interviews with the proverbial black cloud hanging over you.

Is that going to help you?

The answer is no!

My approach is to stay confident, not worry and look to the future and stop listening to the doom and gloom merchants who keep reminding us of the credit crunch crisis the impending recession (as if we are not in one).

As I write this my fiancee is flicking through the TV channels and momentarily stopped on the start of the seven O'clock news as the ultra serious news reader announced that the job loss figures are up again and that we are in a serious..blah blah blah.

I don't want to seem uncaring or make light of the seriousness of the situation, remember I am one of those statistics and have been for several months but it's the negativity that I have a problem with. It compounds the situation.

Imagine for one second if the same news reader had come on and announced with a positive 'slant', " it was announced today that the jobless figures are up again but don't worry things are going to be OK, we are having a recession but its moving and because of that it will end so we all need to be ready for what that brings"
"Lets all look forward!"

"Bon temps roule", "let the good times roll".

That does not sound so ridiculous when you think about it.
When things are going well we think positively and things keep going well. But the slightest thing goes wrong and the head drops the shoulders hunch and brow starts to furrow.
Is that not how it all started? One bank goes shaky the rest start worrying and the next thing you know I am unemployed and writing a blog.

Imagine if you can, a national positivity day, the whole country just having positive thoughts, a collective positivity. Imagine putting that out into the Universe en-mass.
This isn't some airy fairy thought either.
In case you didn't know but this theory is backed up by Quantum Physics, Einstein believed this self same thing, it's true.

So come on lets give it a try, start simple but be positive believe in it and see what happens.
I do it every day along being grateful for all that I have and for what I have achieved in my life to date, which is rather a lot when I sit and think about it.

It all helps to keep me focused and above all else positive.

Anybody else in favour of a National Positivity Day?

Thursday 8 January 2009

Work In Progress

Redundancy.
I don't know, I just don't care to much for the word. I know that this blog is centered around it and my experience but it paints all the wrong images as well as sending out the wrong energy.

It can undermine your confidence in yourself and other peoples confidence in you also.

It has the same affect on companies, they let people go, good people, hard working people like you and me and it sends out an energy or signal that it is in trouble.

A mass of negativity surrounds it, which for a company can be very hard to survive.
The same happens in nature, sharks will encircle the weak having felt the ripple that weakness sends out, from miles away.

In the case of industry the shark is usually the bank.

The point being that confidence is eroded and we usually blame ourselves because we feel that in some way we have contributed to our own demise and to a degree I agree that by thinking negatively we do.

But we must stop dwelling on this thought as it compounds the effect and increases that negative energy.

Our companies don't want to loose us. They spend a good deal of time and money recruiting, training and looking after us and in return we work hard to make them successful and we buy into the company ethos as well as becoming successful in our chosen fields.

My job gave me a lot of satisfaction as well as sleepless nights. I worked well out side my contracted hours and weekends and didn't all ways take holidays especially if the pressure was on with a dead line or we had problems.

Work was king!

I have a new job now and that job is me!

If I was to relate that statement to my profession then I have quite a task ahead of me.
I am fortunate that I only need to refurbish and not take down and rebuild.
I don't need any planning permission even though I would be listed as a building of some historical value and architectural merit in my humble opinion.

There is nothing wrong with the basic design at all. The facade has seen better days but it is still unique and some would say it pleasing to the eye, depending of course how you like your buildings!

This building is not that old but does date from the sixties and I am assured was carefully planned.
Fully equipped this building has much to offer and although presently redundant is by no means obsolete.

Having always been in use it has never lain empty so despite the odd make over has never had the time and complete care that is underway. Some things have been easy to put right whereas others have taken a little more time.
Fortunately no rot had set in.

The aim is to bring this building back to its former glory and maybe offer it for use in a different market place than was originally envisaged or previously utilised.
It is hoped that this project can be completed on time and on budget.

I know that this is a simple analogy, and I do not wish to insult anybodies intelligence by using it. But we never treat ourselves as importantly as our work.
I have never taken two weeks off together only having one week at a time or no time off at all.

I once went ten years without taking a holiday!

Why?

Pure madness!

That was a dereliction of duty to me and my family. I just ploughed on. Plenty of effort but where did it get me.
This was several years ago but I have repeated the same thing over and over again, OK not on such a grand scale but still I have put work first, always.

So, you might wonder how am I coping without it?

The answer is rather well.

I have to keep a keen eye on the finances but then I always do as it plays an important part in my working life and although I am not afraid to spend money I like to consider carefully how I spend it in terms of, do I need it, will it bring some joy or worth to my life or advancement.

But money aside I am doing better than I have in years, I am even sleeping at night.
I am stress free despite not having an actual job.

You see I believe that The Job will come to me, it will be the right one for me and that it will lead to bigger and better things in time.

Why do I believe this?
Because work has always found me and because I want and enjoy it and use it to advance myself further.

At this moment in time I am counting my blessings for the time off that I have had.
I would never have taken this time myself and I have used it to re-evaluate my life and my thinking and in away to connect with myself again. My toys are all out of the box.

When there are people counting on you it is easy to lash yourself to the wheel and keep going. But if you fall apart or get lost in the sea of work and life's struggles how are you going to take care of those same people.
You need to be strong and clear minded and that requires rest to refresh yourself.

I had over looked myself for to long and now I am overhauling myself to be ready for the next chapter.

Remember, count your Blessings however small or unlikely they may at first seem.