Stay Close to Your God

If you are one of the 1,036,563 people looking for work in Texas, you are not alone. And I have some thoughts for you. I am on my own journey of finding my place in the world of “right livelihood”. It’s not an easy path.

According to the Texas Department of Numbers, that total has increased since August of 2010 by 46,492 unemployed people and I’m not even on their list.

You might not be on their list either. If you were like me and not even illegible for Unemployment Insurance for the work you were doing or have taken a low-paying job, below your experience level, just to survive, you’re not on their list either.

After more than two years, I have found some ways to keep going. I’m very grateful that I’m surrounded by loving family and friends and connected to a strong church community. I hope some of these thoughts will help you. Pass them along if they do.

■See your friends – even if you don’t want to, stay connected. Just their smile will lift you up.
■Make sure you know what employment you want, so you can tell them. They can’t refer you if they don’t know what you do.
■Meet others in your situation – you are not the only one. Networking groups (emphasis on “working”) abound.
■Prepare many resumes, from all angles, where you list only the bare facts to one that includes all your grand accomplishments. Always play to their job description.
■Keep your family in the loop – interviews, possibilities, good leads. They can only support what they know about.
■Seek help from organizations and agencies designed to help you in this time of need.
Agency Website Phone
211 Texas www.211texas.org/211 211
Child and Family Guidance Center www.childrenandfamilies.info 214.351.3490
Dallas County www.dallascounty.org/departments.php 214.653.7011
Family Study Center www8.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept28702/files/186779.html 214.648.6945
Food stamps www.hhsc.state.tx.us/help/food/foodstamps/index.html 877.541.7905
LDS Jobs www.ldsjobs.org/ers/ct/home.jsf 972-446-3733
MetroCare www.metrocareservices.org 214.743.1200
Metrocrest Family Clinic www.mfmclinic.com 972.484.8444
Metrocrest Services www.metrocrestsocialservices.org 972.446.2100
Texas Workforce www.twc.state.tx.us 214.920.3663

■Keep your spiritual community close and attend services. Let them know your situation so they can support you.
■Focus on what you want and how you will feel when you get it. Focusing on the past and how bad it was will get you more of the SAME.

Only when you realize that you deserve a place where you can use your gifts and talents while being generously compensated, will that employer and that position be drawn to you. Keep on keeping on - focusing on where you want to be employed and what you want your new job to be like. The more “visualizing” you do today, the more your tomorrows will look like your dreams.

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Sharon Goddard is Green Lady, a "green" marketing and sustainability leader. She is a consultant, speaker and writer. Her website (https://sites.google.com/site/greenladybiz/Welcome) addresses simple solutions for making a difference for the planet. Sharon lives in Carrollton where, since 2003, she has plugged-in 8,212 individual citizens to community service with programs she created, orchestrated and funded. That didn’t stop her from being unemployed. Share your story with Sharon at sharonspersonal@yahoo.com.