“In these days many people have lost their jobs … We pray for these brothers and sisters of ours who are suffering because of lack of work” (Pope Francis)
Losing a job can have a profound impact upon our mental and our physical health. Every area of our daily lives can be affected in dramatic ways as we search for employment opportunities and some prospect of renewal.
The outside world can come to feel like a harsh and an uncaring place. Very suddenly, we are faced with losing our financial independence and economic security. We might find ourselves without a structured framework or a reassuring routine to our daily lives. It can seem that former colleagues and friends are drifting away. High anxiety levels can lead to more irregular sleep patterns, low self-esteem and irritability. As the weeks and the months pass we face application forms and prospective interviews with a numbing sense of potential failure and of rejection. As one friend of the AECI described it, 'my hope in the future was wobbling, I felt very isolated'.
Unemployment presents a severe challenge to our sense of worth, to our core identity and our feelings of belonging. Our own ‘talents’ and ‘skills’, ‘qualifications’ and ‘experience’ can feel devalued in such circumstances. Yet, with clear thinking and perspective, we are - and we will remain - the best judge as to our true capabilities and our strengths.
In this short blog on the AECI website we shall focus on six steps to help us retain our spiritual focus and our energy and to recollect our unique nature (what we term our ‘Primal Gifts’) when faced with the loss of a job and a steady income. These ‘Primal Gifts’ are distinct from 'talents' that we might develop with long term application and practice. Our 'Primal Gifts' are purely are our own simple, irrepressible and truthful qualities that we hold in our 'essence' and that we must preserve in the midst of any changing job circumstances. They are our positive character traits that cannot be broken or affected by changes in any patterns of employment or shifts in our career path.
So, beginning on Monday 24th August 2020 follow this AECI weekly blog to help you consider ways to ensure your inner qualities and your strengths continue to thrive at a particularly volatile and turbulent time and to guard your 'Primal Gifts' in six steps over six weeks when facing unemployment and all that sadly can come with it!
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