Looking Up...

   So I've been reading a lot of articles about women who have lost their jobs after so many years and about the struggles they are going through to find work again - and to just survive in the meantime.  I think I have learned a couple of things.  First: I am definitely not alone in this predicament.  Being a woman over 50 and looking for work is a very daunting experience and there are many, many of us in the same boat.  Second: I am more fortunate than a lot of those women.  I have a husband who has a job and is still bringing in a paycheck.  We still have our home and car(s).  We are still able to pay our bills (mostly).  And we can still buy groceries. 

 

   I read a story about a woman who was an executive with her company for 30 years and she was asked to prepare a list of ways that the company could "tighten their belts".  Next thing she knew, she was handed her pink slip.  Then there was the woman who just bought a 4 bedroom home on which she & her hubby were going to do major renovations.  Then, suddenly,  she had no income.  So now they live in this big house that needs lots of repairs that they can't afford and they can't sell.  Or the mother who put her son in college, then lost her job.  She refuses to let her situation impact her son's life, so she swears she'll scrub toilets, if necessary, to keep him in school.

   I actually began to feel fortunate after reading these stories.  Sure, I know there are always people out there less fortunate than ourselves.  But for a short while there, I admit that I was beginning to feel a bit depressed about my situation - no job, no interviews, no prospects.  But there are definitely a lot of worse things that could happen!  So I am beginning to have a more positive attitude once again.  

   I have been praying for my own job situation for a long time.  But now I am praying for all those other people out there who are in this same situation - or worse - that I am in.  I have known  for a long time that it is always better to look at others and pray for them rather than to look at yourself all the time.  But I am afraid that I sort of "forgot" to do that for a while. Now that God has put me back on the right track once again, I think things are looking up!  I know I am!