After eight months of unemployment and over 200 job applications, I received two job offers in the same week. It took a couple of days for me to accept the hunt was finally over, and I now had some meaning in my life.
Eight months is a long time to do nothing and to have nothing. Government assistance is helpful but doesn't cover everything: rent, car payments, utilities, and groceries. An emergency better not happen, and cross your fingers that you won't need anything new because if you do, you're SOL.
Today's job market is unrecognizable from the one that existed one short year ago. Millions of people are out of work through no fault of their own, and most feel utterly hopeless about it. Finding a job when everyone else is looking for one, too, is a daunting task.
It takes willpower, perseverance, determination, and the ability to recognize that it isn't something wrong with you that's preventing you from getting hired–it is a numbers game, sort of like bingo, and your turn will come eventually.
Many don't talk about the struggles of being jobless, but I lost my shame months ago. I was rejected from jobs I was sure I had in the bag, I had to go to my mom for money, I'm thousands of dollars in debt to various companies (that won't stop calling!), and my landlord hasn't received full rent since this pandemic started–if you want to talk about shame, I'm your gal.
I was suicidal. I felt like a leech to society. Taking, taking, taking, and never giving back. You lose your self-worth, self-esteem, and self-confidence; soon enough, you simply hate yourself. It may not be that way for everyone, but it's been horrible for me.
However... I am stronger because of it. Now I can see it for what it is: a situation I did not create but is negatively impacting millions. The shame sure is isolating, though. I felt like I was the only one struggling. I knew I wasn't because the news stories told me that millions of people were suffering, but I didn't see suffering anywhere except under my own roof. Once I started talking about it, though, the floodgates opened, and I found my people. My struggling people.
