Sometimes It’s Okay To Be Jobless

Or as some would say out of work…Really it’s okay and I am not writing this cause i was unemployed and currently unemployed, I’m writing this cause I am unemployed and it’s my second time. Being jobless is not an easy task or experience but at some point in life, we fall, we rise…it’s a roller coaster. So it’s safe to say I’m clearly in the fall, waiting and hoping for the rise. You know, being jobless not once but twice is not a beautiful experience; you are tired, worn out, confused, scared, unmotivated and just want to give up. But to be able to be successful, you have to be resilient, determined, take life by the throat or it ‘life’ would take your throat!!!

At my second job, luckily I was paid off (not a good amount compared to the time ,effort and commitment I put in but reasonable) and was able to get me an apartment which I ended up losing after I was laid off again ( need I remind you, this was due to me refusing sexual advances). The third job was the worst kind of job I would have ever done but took it to be able to keep up with my “new” life but in the end I was dealt with and tossed like a piece of trash.

I didn’t really learn much on my first job (also harassed there) because it was the first time, I was motivated and pursued other opportunities and surprisingly got fair offers. Though it was last year, the beginning of recession in Nigeria ,I was optimistic ;I don’t know if it was because I had money to last me for six months till I get something better but I really put myself out there. I got two offers; the pay for one was really small and it was far from where I lived so I had to forgo it , the second offer was actually a writing job (fair pay) but I was given a condition to shut down my blog (not this one, relax lol) and that was something I couldn’t give up. So the opportunity passed and before I knew it, I had lavished 100k in two months. Five months had gone since I lost my job; I became desperate and told myself I need to take anything right now because offers were slowing down, my account was draining fast and I needed to get an apartment.
 

Anyways, I accepted a marketing job a friend informed me about and after seven months I was laid off without and being paid off, just the last month I worked there. You know, I wasn’t sad at first  because I hated the job and if was my first time being laid off so it wasn’t such a big deal ( so I taught) then I told myself; ‘it’s okay, you have made connections, just reach out to these people, who knows, your helper might be among them. Well, guess what? I reached out to these people and even hung out with them a couple of times; none have helped or plan to. They rather you visit them at their offices, give you recharge card money and tell you to be patient, that they are working on something but they are not. Okay, I know I can be quite wordy in my post if you don’t like it I apologize for that and if you do, thank you! So I’ll just head on to why I said it’s okay to be jobless sometimes;

You feel a certain pressure is off

like you get to relax…we all know the pressure we face at work, especially in an office space where your boss makes you feel like he is paying you to do nothing, your colleagues are competing to be on his ‘boss’ good side or competing for your job. It’s always one thing or the other and it can really stress one out (Don’t get me wrong there are some good pressures; you know ,the one that actually have to do with the task and you loving your job but I’m talking about being free of unhealthy pressures, it could be life threatening, definitely not a way to live.

It helps you think about your life

How far you have come, what the next step is, if you were/are truly living your purpose. You don’t have that thought of how to make another man’s dream better first thing in the morning but you are actually thinking of yourself, trying to discover who you are and what you should and could be doing.
 

It gives you an opportunity to try something new

I can be really blunt most of the time but it has helped me stay true to myself and accept things the way they are. Though deep down in my heart I never liked marketing yet I took the job and it help me discover a new me and I wasn’t bad at it ‘marketing’. So after my time at that company ended ,I told myself I did a great job and if I could sell someone else’s product why not mine, so I started a business; selling some electronics but my challenge was capital. I did not have anyone supporting me at the time and my bank account was empty. To cut the story short after two months, I could not continue and that was when I confirmed that I am not a sales person. I accepted it and moved on but I was proud that I tried something new, it was an experience.

You start appreciating what you had (if the job was the right one) or have

The truth is most of us don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone – this happens when you take a job that you like for granted. I have not been fortunate enough to work for such company. Therefore, losing your job would make you appreciate the one you lost and how you can do better at the next one; is it waking up earlier, meeting deadlines or just being the best at what you do. And by appreciating what you have I mean the little but important (relationship, family and friendship) things you missed cause you were engrossed with work and now that you are unemployed ,you begin to realize what truly matters; showing love to the people in your life, spending time with them, sharing memories with them…just living a fulfilled life.

You start learning how to manage money

Thankfully, I’m a good saver and most times a hoarder, lol. I think hoarders are savers, naturally….anyhow, being broke and unemployed have taught me how to be wise with expenses; I just buy what I need and not what I want (let’s face it, we want everything, lol). Being jobless prepares you for when you become that billionaire; you’ll know how to spend “invest” money instead of lacking and when business seem slow for some, yours is multiplying.

You know who you real friends are

I was quite popular in school, though I try to hide most of the time, I’m not invincible (my height and frame did not help matters). Most girls and guys (well, wants to be more than friends) wanted to be friends, and since I’m accommodating and friendly, I was friends with most people. As I grew, I realized that people take from me; brains, money, heart…and give nothing. But I wasn’t cautious of it or read any meaning to it cause I have always been this person (still am) that loves people around me to be happy even at the expense of my happiness. And as time goes by, and began to face more challenges, the more I lost friends because they feel you don’t have anything to offer them anymore since their lives seem to move on and yours seem stagnant. 

I’m really taking these lessons and learning a lot and realize there is a reason for everything that is happening in my life and you can’t get to where you need to be until you learn from your mistakes, so in the future you can handle anything.

You learn from your mistakes

Number six brings us here. Though I hoard during my younger years, I was smart with money, then again I wasn’t working for the money. I was too friendly and a people pleaser, I never really did what I wanted, so these unemployment state made me think about the mistakes (how committed I was, giving in to an annoying colleague, not being motivated to go or giving it my best, going for what I should do and not what I could do) I made in my past jobs and how to avoid them in my next.

Discover who you really are

It probably takes a while or a lifetime to discover who we really are but what’s important is we do and we embrace it. This experience helped me understand my strength and weaknesses, my limits, endurance and patience. Do I have time when I doubt myself? Of course! Do I have time where I just want to give up? Absolutely! Sometimes I want to create, other times I just want to lay in bed and watch series on CW, sometimes I want to pray before and after bed, other times I just want to sleep or just do something else. Sometimes I want to work out, other times I just want to check Facebook, Instagram and just gloat. In all of these, I discovered who I am and want to be; shedding my negative (not so positive) side for something positive and working on my positive side, sticking to my priorities, goals, morals and vision. It made me realize how strong I am ( I had no idea I’m this strong),how I can achieve greatness in anything I put my mind to. 

Though some days my dreams seem impossible, I stay motivated, though some days are tough, I can’t get it all at once, and I’m still finding my way. Though mistakes are inevitable, I try not to make the same but new ones. Every failure is a lesson, learn from them and keep moving. Is okay to be unemployed/jobless sometimes, just learn from the experience, nothing last forever.