Trying To Remain Positive

I am writing this blog entry mainly for myself. It probably won't have much/if any Alexander news...so if you read this just for updates on him, well you are out of luck.

I really wanted to write this blog to help me cope with my job loss and the ensuing job search. It has been 5 months since I have been laid off from EY and I am very frustrated with my job search, or lack thereof. I seem to be having very little luck in the way of my job search. There honestly isn't that much out there in the Recruiting field right now and it seems like I am missing jobs by a matter of a week or a couple of days. I will speak to someone and they will say that they just filled a position not too long ago and that they have no needs. It gets very frustrating when this happens multiple times. I have also been trying to network..A LOT. I am very proud of myself and for the most part I have been meeting my goal of doing one (or more) networking sessions in a week. It is hard to arrange these with a 15 month old to consider, but I am very proud of myself that I have been sticking to it and almost always obtaining it. I have been trying to go to networking meetings and job expos and really reaching outside my comfort zone asking for introductions to people in the HR field that I do not know. I do have to admit, that I have met some truly amazing people through this and I hope to remain in contact with them.

I decided instead of focusing on all the bad things, I would write a post about everything that I have to be grateful for and positive about. Then when I am feeling down or depressed about getting a rejection letter or getting frustrated that the phone isn't ringing with interview requests, I can log on here and remember all the good things. I keep telling myself that God or life is trying to tell me something and that this is happening for a reason. Whether I am supposed to discover something personal about myself, or have this time at home with Alex (which I really craved even before he was born) to see him crawl for the first time or say his first word, etc that there is a reason for this. I do have so many things to be grateful for that I feel bad about ever being depressed or frustrated with the job situation. There are so many people and families in the same shoes that Henry and I are in that I know I am not the only person out there experiencing this.

So, here just a few of the many things I have to be grateful for in my life:

• I have a beautiful, healthy son and a wonderful, supporting, loving Husband..who not only cooks, but works and cleans!
• Two sets of loving, supportive parents who are always there if I need a shoulder to cry on or to bitch to.
• I am so grateful that we moved to the NE when we did. I am so happy we got settled and had Alex before my job loss so that if this had happened in Atlanta, we might have been there longer than either of us wanted.
• I am grateful that we still have a roof over our heads and money to put food on the table.
• I have FINALLY learned to cook and have discovered not only do I enjoy it (for the most part), but I am actually not half bad at it either.
• I have decided to pursue my PHR certification within the next year. I was on the fence with this, but really want to obtain it once I return to work to learn more about the HR industry as a whole.

So you see, there are many things that I have to be grateful for and these were just the things I thought of off the top of my head. I know deep deep inside that we will be OK and we will emerge from this a stronger ME and a stronger family. Everyone I have spoken to has said that when they lost a job they always came out the other side a stronger person and with a better opportunity. I just have to believe in myself and my qualifications and know that I am a good candidate and that I will prove to any employer that they made the right decision to hire me!