Changing Careers- The Blessing of Umemployment And The Recession

If you listen closely you can almost hear it-the clank of the “golden handcuffs” hitting the ground.

What are the “golden handcuffs”? They are that thing that keeps people from leaving a job they really aren’t fulfilled by, but which makes them too much money for them to walk away. Thus, they are in “golden handcuffs”.

Study after study shows that American’s are unhappy with their careers, which contributes to their feeling unhappy and unfulfilled with their lives. And why not? Truth is, most of us chose a career based on how much money we could make. No one really ever told us otherwise.

Now, things are beginning to change, rapidly so. People are starting to figure out that if the end game is “happiness and fulfillment”, that their current career strategy (or life strategy for that matter) has fallen short of the mark; far short in many cases.

So, we American’s have plodded along as best we can, trying to anesthetize the lack of fulfillment in whatever way we can. So then it makes sense when we hear that we are both the wealthiest people in the world, and also the fattest and consume the most drugs…by far. These are just a couple of indicators. The drugs for “depression” and “bi-polar” and “A-D-D” are not entered into the stats of illegal drug use, but they are more often a stab at the same goal, to numb the unhappiness and lack of fulfillment. Our divorce rate is a pointer as well…

But hey, when you’re driving a sweet ride home (at 7pm) to a sweet house with great furniture, and a closet full of clothes, and a stainless steel fridge stocked with good food, and a family with expectations of a certain lifestyle, and the Joneses next door peaking over the fence, well hey, its enough to keep a person plodding along for quite some time…until something happens.
Right now, in this moment, that something is happening for millions of Americans. A lot of jobs have been cut in this economic place we are in. And though it seems like doom and gloom, I actually feel it’s the best thing that could have happened for a lot of folks. Present company included.
Truth is, many of these folks were miserable. These lives they’d built up were self imposed prisons of unfulfillment. And though the burn of the fear of financial insecurity is hard to bear for some, it forces one to start looking at life in a new way, asking some gut level questions. It provides a space; a time for looking at what’s really important, and what one really wants their life to be about.

Hit your favorite local retirement home and go around and ask some of those wonderful folks what their top 3 regrets are. Studies show that you’ll find a theme.

* “I wish I’d taken more risks”.
* “I wish I’d said I love you more”
* “I wish I’d done something more meaningful, made more of a contribution”

I believe that contribution is why we’re here. We each have a unique song to sing, flower to blossom, masterpiece to create. Wayne Dyer says “don’t die with your masterpiece still in you”. I agree with that. For some of us that may be the next Google, for others it could be something they make with their hands that brings joy to people, others still may have a book, or a screenplay, or some sort of business venture.

There is a force at work here, something we can’t seem to shake no matter how much money we make doing something else, a feeling that nags at us and just won’t go away. This force is the Creative Spirit that is in all of nature, compelling it push forth and bloom, sing its unique song. Its how the planet moves forward. Its how societies and cultures move forward. Its as natural as the seasons. We are compelled to create, or be doomed to a life unfulfilled. That is our choice. Bloom, or wither and die.

If you are one of those folks who have found themselves unemployed and seeking direction, then I say to you “Praise God” (or insert your higher power term of choice here). What a scary, but wonderful place to be. Take this opportunity, this blessing, and use it as way to get lined up with what you really feel like you are here to do.

And if you don’t know what that is, start searching for it. The answer is inside you, wanting to come forth. Just a little goading and it will spring forward, and will change your life forever, and help you to create a new life that you really love to live.

And for those of you who already know what it is, get into action! This is your time! Make the move. Starting following your bliss. There is no “stuff” that money can buy you that will make that feeling go away. It is your destiny. And conversely, there is no amount of money that could buy you the unbelievable, crazy awesome feeling of doing what you absolutely LOVE to do, and which you feel is blessing people in some way. Its your song to sing. Sing it! And live the life you were meant to live.

If you need some help, drop me a line and I’ll try and point you in the right direction. Until next time, Live a life you love!

Chris Connell
www.makethemostofthislife.com