I lost my job last year and although I’ve been looking for a new one, I am not working yet. My unemployment benefits have run out, so I’m just living on savings which is pretty scary.
However, on the bright side I am currently taking classes to become certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist. I have passed my Outlook and PowerPoint exams, and received my certifications for those. I’m studying for my Excel certification now, and will finish with Word after that. The classes, study, and practice are keeping me pretty busy and don’t leave much time for the job search, but my main focus right now is completing them as soon as possible so that I’ll be more marketable.
How can I maintain faith, confidence, and a positive attitude during times of uncertainty about career, finances, etc.?… Angie
Dear Angie… All times are uncertain times! It’s only our thought that any particular times are “certain”—that our career and finances are ever really secure. If we look deeply at life, though, we see that it is always moving, always changing, and nothing ever stays the same.
In our parents’ day and age many of our fathers held the same jobs for decades. I only have one friend, though, out of hundreds, who has had a job with the same company since we graduated from college, and I can tell you that he has never been completely happy in it. I suppose he has stayed for the seeming security of it, but I am amazed that he hasn’t been “kicked out of the nest” because it has never seemed to be very soul-fulfilling for him. You see, life has a way of calling us to evolve, and when we ignore that call over and over again, very often the soul will cause us to evolve in a way that doesn’t feel very good to us. Sometimes this takes the form of what looks like a loss, as in getting laid off or fired from a job. Perhaps my friend has managed to stay with the same company because they have transferred him several times, giving him promotions and new opportunities for expansion each time.
I wonder, Angie, if you were you completely happy in the job you had. Did you absolutely love it? Or did, perhaps, you feel you were ready to move into something larger?
The fact that you are taking this opportunity to further develop your skills is perfect! You have taken what looked like an obstacle and turned it into a golden opportunity. Good for you!
Prosperity follows passion, and the more you do what you love, the more opportunity life will give you to do what you love.
Know that everything that happens in life inures for your benefit, dear Angie. Please do not for one second allow fear to take over your thoughts. Look deeply into the face of fear and question every single thought that your mind conjures about what could happen, then ask, well, if that happened, then what would happen? And if that happened, then what would happen? This is called the “So What? Process” and it helps us to see that no matter what happens in our lives, we will still survive, one way or another.
Look at the example of what happened to Neale: Things in his life spiraled downward to the point that he lived in a tent for two weeks shy of a year. Yes, it was a very very tough experience for him, but look how he rebounded from it. Within a relatively short period of time he literally went from rags to riches, and today he avows that it was one of the best things that ever happened to him! He has literally had nothing and he has literally had everything he could possibly want, and he says that both experiences left him with the same question:
“Now what?!”
You have experienced a taste of this, and you answered the question in the highest way possible for yourself. You decided to re-create anew the next grandest version of the greatest vision you ever held about yourself, Angie, and in doing so you have done exactly what CWG invites us to do.
Now, just keep going. You were guided to go back to school, and you will be guided as to what’s highest and best for you to do when you finish your studies. Try not to expect it to look a certain way. For example, maybe you will freelance several small jobs instead of having one full-time job. Maybe you will be self-employed instead of being an employee. Just trust that the continuing opportunities will be there for you and you will be fine.
You are deeply loved, guided and supported more than you know and you always have a host of angels with you, every step of the way. I look forward to hearing back from you this time next year. You will marvel at what all you’ve been able to accomplish!
(Annie Sims is the Global Director of CWG Advanced Programs, is a Conversations With God Life Coach and author/instructor of the CWG Online School. To connect with Annie, please email her at Annie@TheGlobalConversation.com.
(If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to: Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com where our team is waiting to hear from you.)
An additional resource: The CWG Helping Outreach offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services. The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions. What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God. It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.
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