Rant #2,457: Ups and Downs

Halloween was a bust at my house.

We didn't have a single kid come to the door trick of treating.

Of course, the weather wasn't that great--raining, windy, but warm--and as I said yesterday, the holiday just isn't the same anymore.

And if kids come looking for candy today, they will be out of luck at my place, because as far as I am concerned, Halloween 2019 is over and done with, so no candy will be dispensed by me.

And it is time to move on anyway.

I made a personal decision yesterday, and I posted it on Facebook in the middle of the day,

Here is the exact post:

"After reviewing my current situation, I have decided to scale back on my job search activity.

My wife and lots of other people have encouraged me to do this, and after another semi-sleepless night, and another day without any job prospects, I have decided that going full throttle into this like I have been doing for the past three weeks since my old place of business closed down--and on again, off again for the past five years--is actually counter-productive, not allowing me to focus on the jobs I really want but on applying for jobs, and I have found that there is a difference.

I will continue to network--if you are interested, my Linked In profile can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/…/lawrence-s-larry-lapka-a5b14622-… I actually did some work on that this morning before posting this message. I also applied for a couple of positions, so while I have not totally shut myself down, I know what I want, and I am going to go about getting what I want, not just accumulating job applications.

So while I cannot enjoy my situation--in fact, Unemployment is giving me nothing but problems about severance pay and even the exact date that my job and company expired, believe it or not--I know I will be fine, in particular with a strong family and good friends behind me.

So I am not shutting myself down, I am just pulling back a bit, because I truly feel that if I don't do this, I am going to make myself sick, or crazy, or completely stressed out--or all three at once--and I just cannot afford for my health to suffer because I don't have employment.

It isn't worth it, and if nothing comes up, there is always early retirement, which I have received mixed reviews about, some saying that it really stinks and others saying it is a panacea of opportunities.

Let's hope it does not go that far, but for right now, again, I am not giving up, not shutting down completely, just pulling back a bit."

So, don't think I have given in, put up the red flag, and cried "Uncle." I certainly haven't done that at all.

I have taken the "less is more" approach: less consuming myself with this voyage I am on, and more results might take place, or at least I will get more out of a bad situation than I am getting now.

It is nice to apply to jobs, but I have to ask myself, are these jobs that I really, truly want, or am I just accumulating applications to say that I filled out x amount of these each day?

I think it has been the latter, and that is where the problem is. The more of these things you fill out, the more frustrated you become.

I havc networked with plenty of people, both on my own and on Linked In; in fact, a considerable amount of my time prospecting for jobs has been directed at networking. I have never networked like this before in my life, and it is a painstaking process, with few if any immediate results. 

That is OK, I have learned that that is the way networking goes, and few have turned me flat down, except one group that was at the job fair I went to the other day, in which the person manning their booth refused to take my resume, even on a non-company, personal basis. Based on this behavior--seeing what I was up against at this job fair, I decided on the spot to use it as a networking opportunity--I decided right then and there this is a company I do not want to have anything to do with. I saved a resume--and my valuable time--in the process.

And while the ups and downs continue, I am doing all of it on my own slippery slope now, rather than be at the beck and call of "the perfect job for me," which I kind of like. It puts me more in control than I had been, and prevents me from burning out so quickly.

And before I forget, congratulations to the Washington Nationals, who are Major League Baseball's World Series champions for the 2019 season. In an interesting season in this overall topsy turvy year, the Nationals beat the highly favored Houston Astros for the crown ... and you have to root for the underdog anyway, so the Nationals filled that bill with a lot of aplomb.

I am also an underdog. Root for me, too.

Have a great weekend. I will speak to you again on Monday.