We Don't Need Roads

Being unemployed is like going Back to the Future to the land of your early twenties. You're in the past when you had no money, no prospects, no confidence - and if you happen to be in a career change like me, you also have no experience. The frightening part though is that all of the financial obligations you've made don't disappear with your last job. You are being paid from a past paycheck while you're supposed to be funding a brighter future complete with a mortgage, a financed car, and student loans. This can of course be terrifying. However, let's think about this a moment. When we think about our early twenties, for most of us, there's something inescapably romantic about it. We had no money but we had more "friends." We probably all thought we were more beautiful than we actually were, but we acted like it, and that felt good.  Our confidence was based on the ideal of our potential and the world was our oyster (to be cliche). It felt like we could do anything because no decisions were made yet. We could be or do anything.


What I have come to realize is that unemployment and career changes can be more of a joyride in the DeLorean.  They really are like being in your early twenties, but we have to remember both the good and the bad from that time.  We can go anywhere and do anything!  My particular situation is even more uncertain because my husband just lost his job as well.  I could look on this with panic, but instead I choose to see it as standing on the cusp of opportunity.  We could move to another state.  We could move to another country! We could both land jobs that we love ever so much more than our previous positions.  We could sell our house or rent it out and find some place even better.

All of the above can seem unlikely and unrealistic.  We all have little gremlins in our heads who want to sabotage these hopes.  I can hear all of your gremlins grumbling and complaining while you read this entry.  Your gremlins are saying that "you can't sell a house in this market or" "how are you going to afford moving to a different country with no income" or "my twenties were actually pretty awful."

I implore all of you to take a deep breathe and shove your gremlins into a box or a little while.  For every negative thought that we have we convince ourselves a little more of despair.  Instead, allow yourself a positive thought and convince yourselves of hope.  Anything really is possible and it does no harm to think that way.  It just makes you glow like a twenty year old.