Be of Good Cheer

Life can throw all kinds of monkey wrenches at you and often will and at the worst time it would seem.  What life can do, it can undo whether you are at a high point in your life or at a low.  In order to achieve a spectacular view from a mountain top, it must be surrounded by valleys and you had to climb that mountain to gain the view.  You can’t stay there.  The views are transitory meant for all who achieve this height and know what was sacrificed to achieve the ascent.  In the climb you might have seen other peaks still to be scaled and the people who helped you reach this height.

At one time you were in the valley; nowhere to go but up.  You might be there now, in a valley with nowhere to go but up yet you are confronted by which mountain should you choose?  You could practice scaling smaller summits and over time your skills improve making that first summit while hard originally is now easier.  You may find summits that still defy you.  This tells you more learning is required, so broaden your attempts and learn new skills.  Go back to that summit and attempt it again if you find you must; but in the broadening, you may discover other peaks more attractive and higher.  You don’t have to climb every mountain to know you can.  You can choose which mountain to climb.

Let’s switch up the topic from mountain climbing to finding a job in tough times.  You find yourself in a valley either unemployed or between jobs or just plain discouraged in your situation.  In mountain climbing you need an approach that was much like following a path.  Your approach is your plan and the path consist of the steps you will take to achieve your goal.  In this case, the goal is to become employed whether working for someone else or self-employed.  Once you achieve your goal, you will find that staying there requires learning more skills and keeping your performance up to par.  Often it may be advisable to move on having learned of other similar positions that offer more rewards.  The nature of the work may change.  If a business doesn’t react to market forces, it may need to retrench possibly shedding employees and adding others to meet the new challenges.  The nimble, agile employee is a peg that can fit in many slots and are highly desired.

What one trait could you develop that would help to insure your survival?  Or cushion your fall?  For the answer to this question is something beyond having a skill and this your disposition.  To this I say to be of good cheer.  I celebrate new horizons and achievement whenever they happen and share the good tiding with friends and families.  On the other side of that coin is disappointment and discouragement.  I usually grit my teeth, withdraw, and let some time pass.  Doors open and close all the time.  What is behind one or the other isn’t known until you go thru that door.  But it’s you that goes through it and you will still be the same person with a broader experience to approach new opportunities that are now open.  It’s a vista unlike the mountain top but a vista of opportunities you may not have foreseen.  You are facing the unknown and troubling thoughts are to be expected.  You are expected to soldier on and make the best of it.  Every opportunity is a new world and the people there don’t know you either.   How could you not welcome the opportunity to meet new friends who could help you reach new heights?  Within everyone is that soul touched by God that only you can know.  All you need to do is find the love within and share it.  It’s a simple mantra: Find the smile, Follow the smile, Be the smile.

If you found this outlook informative, consider the lessons I learned from my life condensed into a program called “Six Step to a Paycheck” in my book: Finding a Job in Tough Times.  Visit www.findingajob.net for more information about this reflective workbook.