Gratitde Not Attitude: A Better Week, Here’s Hoping

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fighting negativity, gratitude not attitude, mindframe, overcoming obstacles, perseverance, persistance, planning

Last week was a week low on things to be grateful about in my world. For sure, to keep myself going I reminded myself that I still had the little things to be grateful for and I was. I was truly grateful to have a roof over my head and money to still put gas in the car and buy food. Yet, I was in a funk to find bigger things to be grateful enough about to post last Friday. Instead I decided to stay in my world and lick my wounds in seclusion.

This week, I decided to figuratively stand up, dust myself off, and start all over again. So what if I was passed over for a retail job for other candidates. I’ll go with the reality that with 2 masters degrees, yes I was over qualified. They knew I’d leave for something in my field once it came along. After all, this week I had a first telephone interview for an opportunity that I would really like to be hired to do. I also decided to stop letting my life whirl around without much structure. I made the effort to experiment with a different approach to scheduling for the week. I even wrote about it for Monday’s Musing. I have to say that using this approach to planning for my week’s activities has been going pretty well. I do find it has helped me keep more of a balance which has resulted in less stress and negative mind speak.

Here are things I’m grateful for this week…can I make it to 5?

1. I think I did well on the HR initial phone interview this week for a job opportunity I would really like.
2. I’m grateful that when I requested prayers, positive thoughts, etc to my friends on FB for this interview, so many responded. It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.
3. I was finally able to edit, produce and then write about the amazing interview I had with a WW II veteran back in October. It’s been making feel agitated that I was taking so long to finish this project. I still have 2 other video interviews with other subjects to attend to but I know I will. Otherwise, if you haven’t read my post about John O’Hara, please do. I think you will enjoy learning from him!
4. I’m so happy that my chiropractor was able to get a bone in my left lower leg back in place (along with other corrections) after my very painful 1/2 marathon on 11/30/14. It’s nice to not be in agony! It’s nice that these treatment were prepaid earlier this year too 🙂
5. I’m grateful for my hairstylist. She continues to help keep my hair decently colored (gotta hide those grays when job shopping as an older adult) and cut. She has lowered her price until I can get back on my feet.

Yeah! I made it to five! It has been a week that probably hasn’t been much better than last week. However, this week I determined to be in a better frame of mind so that I would allow myself to see more of the good than the bad. Here’s to the weekend and a great next week!

Gratitude Not Attitude: Post Thanksgiving Holiday

Tags

food coma, gratitude not attitude, holidays, kindness of strangers, Thanksgiving, unemployment

For those of you in the United States, how was your holiday? How’re your digestive efforts?? In my house, it was out for a restaurant dinner but still plenty of leftovers. The realization this year, I’m getting to old to handle all that eating. It looks like next year’s Thanksgiving is to be a small at home affair. Now that there’s a Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Trader Joes in the area, I’m sure I can pre-order something up. Here’s to Christmas being a trial run for this. As you can guess, cooking full meals from scratch is not allowed during the holidays in this house. Long story.

Here are this week’s Gratitude Five:

1. My PMP certification prep class is 1/3 done and other classmates have also started sharing study materials. Not just me.
2. To the Sam’s Gas station attendant who let me use his Sam’s Membership number. This allowed me to use my Walmart gift card to fill my gas tank. Seems the State of Florida provides Walmart cards for finishing/starting my grant paid classes for those in Pasco county. Unlike other counties in the state which they provide straight gift cards that I could use at any gas station. This man risk reprimand and helped an unemployed lady out tremendously.
3. There are a ton of leftovers in the frig, including 2 servings of tiramisu. Considering the things that went wrong at the dinner, they were earned. But my mom loves tiramisu so it was accepted happily.
4. Starz is currently free on my cable TV provider. I will now be partaking in holiday binge watching and thankful I have the free time. I love holiday binge watching and/or reading.
5. I was actually emailed by a company about a job opening. I was asked to interview if I was still in town for the holiday. Of course I was. Well, I know I got along well with one of the two people that interviewed me. The other, I couldn’t read as well. I was given the opportunity to interview first. Here’s to the waiting to hear but hoping I made a strong positive impression the others can’t top.

I hope you all had a great week with much to be grateful for, from the little to the big.

Gratitude Not Attitude: Here’s to Friday 10/21/2014

Tags

business, gratitude not attitude, Inspiration, persistence, PMP training, running

Well, it’s Friday. That means it’s time for me to get into my Gratitude not my Attitude mind frame. Let me say that it does help to not be traveling and worrying about having access to WiFi or having enough data left in my cellular plan to hotspot my iPad. It gets expensive to hotspot once your cell phone is no longer being paid for by your company! 🙂

After much thought, here are my five for the week:

1. I am satisfied that I took the high road and wrote a nice business appropriate response to a possible employer. I notified them that I could no longer be considered for a position at their organization due to several thing including (nicely put) their inability to assist me in relocating to their state. What I got in response was a 12 worded email. Hmmm…I may have dodged a bullet there, me thinks!

2. I kicked myself out of my doldrums and my flannel PJs to go shmooze and network at an after work professional networking event. Believe it or not, I do more work and computer “stuff” now at home being unemployed vs. when I was working. I find it hard to drag myself away from my task(s) at hand because I have so much I want or need to get done before “I have to return to the work world and being chained to a desk somewhere” or at least that’s my fear/dread. However, it’s wrecking my socialization and my work-outs!

3. I am so grateful that my chiropractor is paid for until Feb. 2015 and that he gets it when I say I’m having “ice pick” headaches. Boy that session Wednesday got me back to feeling more myself. I’m glad I dragged myself there!

4. I started my official PMP (Program Management Professional) classwork this past Saturday. It’s a lot of reading and thinking. I’m trying to remind myself not to freak and it will all sink in over the next few weeks. I’d love it if osmosis truly did work for learning new things. Here’s to the goal of getting certified and it helping in work endeavors.

5. I stopped getting down on myself about my lack of desire to train for my upcoming half-marathons. I yet again dragged myself out of my flannel PJs (hey, it’s been cold here for us Floridians!) and went to the weekly Thursday night Pub Run 5k. I told myself to have fun and see if I could run the whole 3.1 miles even if I did it slowly. I am happy to say that I did run the WHOLE thing, no walking intervals, and I wasn’t even as slow as I could have been! First time ever…I stopped myself from the internal voice of “Never…can’t do”. Yeah me! Now I did stop at the water station turnaround for a drink and to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Here’s that sunset. Enjoy!

Gratitude Not Attitude: Better Late than Never

Tags

fears, Gratitude, gratitude not attitude, running, self-improvement, unemployment, WIA grants

I seem to be spiraling these past few weeks as a result of traveling. One week, fly to RI for a family event and some video-recording of interview subjects, come home for a week to almost get centered again, only to get back on a plane to go crazily run over a bridge with 20,000 strangers. I’ve been happy to be home this week to try and get back on track. However, family has been here to visit my mom…oh and me. Have I got much done? Not really. At least not to the level of my internal success indicators.

Therefore, I have felt pressed and inefficient. Now who likes to feel that way? Not me! This week has also resulted in some deep thinking and mentally playing out several scenarios as to whether I should proceed with a strong job lead or not. The need for scenario playing is that the job is in Columbia, SC doing what I was doing here in FL before I was laid off. Actually, it’s the SC version of my former company. That leads to a whole bunch of other concerns, back and forths and a major factor that they won’t provide relocation monies to boot. Maybe you can now commiserate as to my stress levels, headaches and feelings of spiraling. But yet, as always, there are moments this week that I am grateful for as I trudge along this thing we call life.

1. I faced my fear of heights and strong dislike of cold windy weather and completed my 10k race over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was surprisingly warm and calm 185 feet up on that bridge come race day.
2. The views and pictures I took during the race and the time to enjoy all this were some of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I usually do a race to get it done as quick as my turtle self can do it. This time I switched to the goal of stopping to enjoy and take pictures. I ended up still getting the race done in the time I thought it would take without planning to stop or take my time! I will most likely never do this race again. However, I have some great memories and pictures to prove it. Here’s some proof!

3. I’m about to start my class prep work for PMP certification. I’m grateful that I was able to organize others students to petition the school to start this class now vs. their plan to hold until sometime in January. When you’re unemployed, time is of the essence. The school finally saw this and agreed. Now starts the fun torture and not having enough hours in the day. Yeah, let’s get this party started!
4. I am reminded to be grateful that I received the WIA grant money I got for the MS Project and PMP classes. I was upset that my other classmates are getting more funds than me because they live in a more populated FL county. Unlike my county, these students are being begged to take more course work. When I inquired if I could somehow get more funds, I was informed my county was almost out of money. By grace, I applied when I did (the start of the new fiscal year in August) and was able to get the money I got. I was very lucky!
5. I am grateful for my home. I missed it, my bed, my mom, my furry babies, my views around it. I’ve decided that in the end I enjoy it too much to leave it. This fact did play a large role in my decision to not proceed further with the job opportunity in SC. Tampa Bay Florida you seem to be stuck with me for the time being.

Gratitude Not Attitude: De Ja Vue

Tags

Annapolis, bridges, friends, Gratitude, running, travel

It’s another Friday traveling to another state. Not a wedding but to run across one of the highest bridges in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I’m afraid of heights so the plan is to stick to the median on my way over the bridge. Oh…and to not look down…great!

My Five Things I’m Grateful For This Week:

1. I actually got a request to do a first round interview for a job in my actual field. It’s taken 3 months but I got one.
2. I was able to at least get one video of three up loaded AND edited before the schedule went crazy.
3. I get to see a friend this weekend that I have not seen in several months since she moved.
4. I get to have real Maryland crab cakes this weekend and see one of my favorite towns, Annapolis. It’s been over 18 years since I’ve last been here.
5. Due to all my travel for work (when I had my last job) – I didn’t have to pay for my plane ticket or hotel room. I even got a bonus free upgrade on my rental car. SWEET!

So even though I’m freezing right now, it’s been a good week. I hope everyone had a good week, themselves. Here’s to the weekend! May I survive my race over the bridge Sunday…fingers crossed. 😉

Gratitude Not Attitude: Dodging a Bullet

Tags

Family, good fortune, gratitude not attitude, stress, trips

It’s been another week for the books. This one has been mixed with some great events only to be tempered with a high stress situation. It’s been a week of trying to get back into the swing and structure of things after being away last weekend for a family event. It amazes me that four days away and with very little access to the internet can completely blow you off kilter, never mind writing.

My Five Things I Am Grateful Occurred This Past Week:

1. I got to fly home to see family and my niece get married.
2. I got to see two of my friends from high school after 27 years.
3. I got to enjoy great Rhode Island hometown foods that I don’t get in Florida like hot wieners, Autocrat Coffee Syrup and Allie’s Donuts.
4. I was able to interview two very interesting people about their lives – one being a two-time breast cancer survivor and the other being a 92 year old WW II veteran.
5. The reason I was late getting this posted today….I was able to work it out so that I get to keep my car since the lease ran out…not easy given my current situation…sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do! But I’m very grateful I have a car to get me to job interviews should anyone finally get smart and request to interview me. This was a major concern of the week worked out this morning. Oh and I had a headlight blow just to make it more stressful. My salesperson got the dealer to fix it on the house. Bonus!

Here’s to not just feeling better things are on their way but getting to see them too!

Happy weekend to you all!

Gratitude Not Attitude After a Having a Bad Week

Tags

Gratitude, hope

This week has been a challenging week for me. The combination of being sick, the negative effects of unemployment getting to rear their ugly head in my life and dealing with a delay in my schooling that’s supposed to assist my trying to find a job, have all left me feeling grim and hopeless at times. You’ll all have to forgive me if I’ve been a little absent and distracted this week.

However, ever being the one to try to find something positive to hold on to in addition to things like a roof over my head, food, water, clothing and shelter…which are little things, I know. I am very grateful I have them but feeling guilty I can’t pay my fair share for them presenlty. Yet I needed to find other things to be grateful for this week to remind myself of the good that can still appear, however small, when it feels the world is more out to squash you down than lift you up. So here are this week’s five:

1. My niece is getting married this week end and I’m happy that she has found the ability to trust that she would find love, believe in love and know that she is very worthy of being loved.

2. While I had a job, I did a lot of travel for it. As a result, I had enough points to pay for my flight back home.

3. I’m happy that I get to stay with my sister while I’m back home and that I get to spend time catching up with my family.

4. I finally met my goal to write the post on attending the Quality of Life Forum two weeks ago in spite of the fact that they still haven’t posted the presenters’ PowerPoints like they said they would.

5. I accurately packed all I needed to pack for my trip and both pieces of luggage made it to my destination.

Here’s to betters days and a better week. Every new day is a chance for something good if not great to happen. I try to hold onto this.

Friday’s Gratitude Not Attitude

Tags

gratitude not attitude, positivity, thankfulness

Earlier this week was Monday’s Musing and Sofia’s Wisdom, which will occur on Wednesdays. On weekends you may see me post a Transient Thoughts if something strikes my fancy. Today, I’m starting another regular weekly posting – Gratitude Not Attitude which will occur on Friday’s. Usually by this time of the week, I find it’s a good opportunity to review events and remind myself of any positives that have occurred.

Without further delay, here are my 5 Things I’m Grateful For This Week:

1. That I got the opportunity to have lunch with a former co-worker to catch up and just have fun talking.

2. Cooler and less humid conditions in Tampa. Fingers-crossed they stay this way for awhile longer.

3. My headhunter/recruiter for returning my call and knowing how to pick me up and throw me back in the ring to fight another day.

4. Nominations of support and appreciation from my fellow bloggers in the WP blogosphere. It means so much.

and

5. Support from my mom while I go through this thing called unemployment and her additional positive support of my blogging and interviewing project. It means a lot on both the good and bad days.

So there you have it. Those are my 5 gratitudes. What are yours? Have a great weekend!