I appreciate you sharing the blog about what you’ve learned from unemployment. You are correct in that I’ve never been unemployed. I started at Super Valu at the start of my junior year and worked until I left for the Navy. The two years that I was out of the Navy I wasn’t really looking to work (thanks to having a wife that was willing to work) but a couple of jobs “fell into my lap” thanks to recommendations from friends. I rejoined the Navy in 1995, and almost 20 years later, here I am, still “working for Uncle Sam” as Mom likes to say.
I think that you said at the beginning of the blog is true - all of those lessons can be learned apart from unemployment, but when you don’t have a job it’s kind of like doing the one-week intensive class instead of the semester course.
As I read through your blog, in my minds eye, they all seemed to be linked together. Humility, relationships, envy, appreciation, finances… it all tends to run together. Humility is invaluable in relationships, envy can have a huge impact on how we spend, which is in turn affected by how much we appreciate things, and the things can affect our humility if we’re not careful.
You mentioned one thing that struck a chord with me because it is something that I’ve noticed more in more in not only advertising, but in all facets of life: entitlement (or “deserving”). Advertisers learned a long time ago that reasonable people may REASON that they don’t need something. So they went to the tact of convincing people that they deserve it. Who is going to pass up on something that they deserve?? Everybody wants what they deserve, right? And as I said, it’s not just advertising. You can pick any part of life in America: the job market, school, real estate, government… everyone “deserves” something. I’m not immune to it. I’m a victim of that American mentality more often than I want to admit it. Just recently I pretty much convinced myself that I deserve a new road bike because I’ve been riding the same one for 10+ years. I might WANT a new one, but I need one (the one I’m riding still rides great) and I most certainly don’t DESERVE one. It’s just so easy to take the entitlement super highway. There are a whole lot of people in the United States living beyond their means because they’ve convinced themselves that they deserve a certain lifestyle.
As far as relationships go, I’m sure that in unemployment you very quickly find out who your real friends are, or in other words, the relationships that are worth maintaining. When you mentioned it, I couldn’t help but think that it’s important to nurture those relationships in the good times (like employment) so that they are willing to support during the tough times. Relationships are investments, and you can’t expect a return on something you haven’t invested in.
Thank you for the reminder on appreciation. I’ve been pretty discouraged due to our home search since arriving in Maryland (blog to follow later). And when I think about all that you said, I have to evaluate and appreciate all that I DO have. I’m not living on the streets, and our frustration with finding something is only because of our own demands based on our tastes. It’s not like we can’t afford to live ANYWHERE and are living on the streets.
Being thankful, envy, money, relationships, humility… these are the daily battles of mankind. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m winning the battle most days or losing them.
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