Blog Post: Lessons Learned While Unemployed

One of the "Storms" of life that many of us are experiencing in our lives right now is the "storm" of unemployment. And while for many this is a stressful time, often filled with worry and doubts, there are some lessons to be learned. I believe that in every difficult season of our life we make choices on how we will respond and what we will allow the experience to teach us.

Here are a few lessons I have learned during my "storm" of unemployment:

• I learned that God is always in the mist of these storms even if we don't see Him, feel Him or hear Him. The best illustration of this is the story of a man who had 3 children, his house caught on fire and he ran out with his wife and two of the children, the third child was upstairs. The father called to the son to jump into his arms, but the smoke was so thick that the son said, "I can't see you daddy!" but the father said to the son, " But I can see you Son!" jump and I will catch you. Sometimes during the storm we can't see God, but He always sees us and is waiting for us to jump into His arms.
• I learned that a lot of things I got angry and upset about really didn't matter. In the storm the little things stay the little things. I ask myself, "In five years, will this matter?"
• I learned what true humility is and I work daily to keep any kind of pride out of my life

• I learned to love unconditionally, be less judgemental and critical
• I learned to be grateful and thankful for the little and simple things in life. A smile, a hug, a caring e-mail, an unexpected card in the mail, a child's laugh, a good laugh, a butterfly, just knowing you have family and friends that love and care about you and of course a cup of coffee and a chocolate bar. :)
• I learned that God really doesn't give us more than we can handle, it just feels like it at the time.
• I learned that I am stronger than I thought
• I learned to have a good sense of humor even when there was nothing to laugh about.
• I learned not to take myself too seriously.
• I learned I don't have to win every argument
• I learned not to compare my life to others because I really don't know what they are really going through.
• I learned no one is in charge of my happiness but me.
• I learned to forgive everyone of everything
• I learned to treasure every family member and friend in my life and to ask them for support and help when I needed it.
• I learned that negative thoughts, people and attitudes could not be part of my life.
• I learned to help others in their storm during my storm.

I am certainly not perfect and have much, much, much more growing to do in my life, but I can honestly say that these hard, difficult, messy, long-term perplexing times of my life have changed me in ways that never would have happened if the storms were not there.