Today is a beautiful leap day outside. The sun is shining, there is hardly any wind, and the temperature is supposed to reach a perfect 71 degrees. I can't believe it is still February. Rewind back to last week and I thought I would never get well. I spent most of last week feeling weak, tired, and groggy. I finally had the flu hit me Thursday night to explain all the cruddiness I had been experiencing. I became a hermit last week with the exception of teaching a few practice classes at the studio.
Although the weather outside is tremendously beautiful, I am still feeling a little down on myself. I did not get the job I was so hopeful about last week. That tid-bit of information sprung on me Friday and finally hit my reality on Monday. I'm still undecided on what career path to choose and I'm beginning to get restless.
I do, however, search for and hold on to all the positives of being unemployed. Believe me, they do exist and I'm not always down on myself. I have compiled a small list of the perks of unemployment thus far - because, honestly, I might go insane if didn't do this.
1. I get to sleep in until 8:00 am or 8:30 am. This has been nice. I am typically a morning person and early riser, so stepping of bed at this later time is quite nice.
2. I get to enjoy my breakfast and coffee slowly and quietly. There is no rushing to get dressed to get to work or waiting to eat a quick breakfast at my desk when I get to work.
3. I get to hang out with my dogs all day. I get to hear them snore at my feet as I peruse facebook the Internet for jobs and hear them chase after bones and squirrels in their dreams.
4. I get to grocery shop during the weekdays in leisure. No hurrying, no crowds, no lines, and great parking.
5. I get to workout during the day and get it done at a decent time rather than late in the evening or early morning.
6. I can clean the house during the weekdays and have more free time with Sparky on the weekends. This is one of the things I try to do regularly to pass time. I average cleaning the floors 3-4 times a week. When you have 4 shedding dogs it is absolutely necessary. I may even up this to 5 times a week as it gets warmer.
Those are just a few perks that I enjoy daily. My days do seem to go by quickly even though it seems I don't talk to many people on a daily basis. My mornings consist of about 4-5 hours of job searching, job applications if I find anything worth my while, contemplating my future, researching about becoming a freelance writer, and corresponding back and forth through e-mail. My afternoons I focus on cleaning up the house, doing laundry, and spending some time with the dogs for some sanity on my part. I am going to start some organizing projects soon and painting projects so that I will have some great tips for you all. I already re-organized my bookshelf in my office so that post is coming soon.
So my advice to anyone out there in a similar situation as mine is to do everything you can to keep positive and keep busy. You may not technically have a job to report to everyday, but you should still put yourself on a schedule and stay consistent. Leave some time for structure and leave some time for fun while you have this opportunity in life for it. This will help keep your sanity, I promise. Your daily life is still full of responsibility so you should definitely take all those responsibilities seriously. This will help you to be a self-starter which is what many employers are looking for anyway!
Keep on Keepin on.
