The Pros and Cons of Unemployment

As much as being unemployed sucks, I've been surprised to find that there are some pros there. For instance, we have a zoo membership so when my kids have a day off school and its a nice day I can just take them. I don't have to take them to day care and regret not spending time with them, we can just go. And if I pack lunches all it costs is the gas to get there. On the other hand, my kids go to a private school that they love. It costs money. We're on a temporary scholarship but it won't last forever. The public school near us is terrible. And that feeds into the biggest con- the constant pressure to get a job, the constant guilt that I haven't found anything yet, and the constant threat of a fight with my husband over money. But then pro- I'm learning the true meaning of "let go, let God". When I get stressed my mantra is, "lillies of the valley, baby, lillies of the valley", reminding me that I shouldn't worry, that I should pray instead. And it has worked. We still have a house, we still have electricity and internet access, we can still watch TV.

Oh, internet access. A curse and a blessing. I do lots of job searching, in between bouts of Treasure Madness and Mafia Wars on facebook. Way too much time has been spent on those time wasters! But I've been writing, and that to me is more precious than a paying job. I found a novel I had started working on a couple of years ago and fell in love with it again. It's been awesome working on it, but every minute I spend on that or on facebook is a minute when I'm not doing everything I can to find a job. Come to think of it, that's the biggest con of all- I can't do the things that give me pleasure, that relieve my stress, that give me a sense of accomplishment without feeling tremendously guilty that I'm wasting time I should be using to find a job.