I must be kidding, right? The bright side of underemployment? Read on.
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| I don't believe it! |
Life has its moments where it exerts more effort than usual
to bury you in a grave and sit on top of it for extra good measure. Unemployment/
Underemployment may or may not fall under that category but to some people it
certainly does. Like me. Now I can bore you with the details of how I graduated
from college, graduated from grad school with a Master’s Degree, and went
abroad to gain international experience, but I won’t because you’re not a
potential employer. (If you are please email me. I’m quite the amicable
person. ^_^)
My story mirrors many others and, although I cannot speak
for every unemployed/underemployed twenty-something in this new brave world of
ours, I believe we’re tired of explanations of how the government, the economy,
meritocracy, or capitalism failed us. We are ready to change the rules of an
old game or maybe we are ready to introduce a new game altogether.
Now, you might say, “Well, you wouldn’t be having problems
finding a job if you majored in (insert math, science, or technology specialty
here).” True. I swapped a high demand sector for an area that seduced my
passions and strong desire to bring happiness to the most people possible. I
have no regrets for the choices I’ve made and do not intend to cultivate
regrets somewhere along the passage of time. I have my education, my mind, and
a vision for the future. I cannot go wrong unless I willfully sabotage myself.
My status: underemployed. I managed to secure a part time
teaching at a community college and an international school located in a small
liberal arts college tucked in the middle of a pine forest. The latter offered
me free room and board so I leaped on it and moved out of my home to a single
dorm room where I would share a bathroom and shower with six other females. I’ve
moved three times before so I’m comfortable with the change and although not
ideal, the bathroom situation bothers me very little. I’m grateful for the
personal space to write, which will be my focus for the next threw months:
writing and editing.
I’m thankful, thankful, thankful for what I have now because
many more have it worse than I do. Of course, I had moments of panic about how
to pay pending and impending bills, but I repeated my mantra for worry detox: Stop worrying. It does not help the
situation. Worrying won’t make God have more pity on you and throw a golden
bone on your lap this instant. So stop. Just stop it. I repeat it several
times and I feel better. I feel grateful. In the midst of my gratitude, I
thought about all the gems that unemployment/ underemployment offers. Here’s what I came up with in my own personal
journey:
You have more time to
think about your life, where you want to go, and who you want to be. (Reflections,
reflections!)
You can work on and
improve your spiritual life.
You have more time to
work on projects that usually would be left undone or neglected. (I
revitalized this blog and my writing during my unemployment period.)
You can spend more quality
time with your family and friends (if you’re smart about it).
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| Went down memory lane: awesome friends and family |
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| from highschool, college, grad school, and Korea |
You appreciate your
family and friends more.
You can appreciate
the necessities you’ve taken for granted.
You can take a break
from the rat race to refocus and re-envision your life.
You appreciate five
dollars a lot more than before. (OMG,
I’m rich! *tears* T_T << My reaction when finding five dollars in my wallet.
Shows you how much I look in there.)
You budget more
intelligently because you’re forced to do so. (Bye bye wasteful, meaningless purchases. You do not NEED that. This is still a toughie for me but I have come a
long waaaaaay. Trust me.)
You have more hope
and anticipation of what’s to come because you believe it will be better than right
now.
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| "Oh, the places you will go." ~Dr. Seuss |
How about you? If you’ve ever endured
unemployment/underemployment, what would you add to the list?
Thanks for reading,
Sammy :)
