Lyrics to “For the First Time” by The Script:
We don’t know how we got into this mad situation
Only doing things out of frustration
Trying to make it work but man these times are hard…
I was having a blue day; another company that I had recently applied to had just emailed me the same generic rejection letter that I had become used to receiving: “We’re sorry. Although we reviewed your credentials and find them to be of interest, we’ve chosen another candidate. We will keep your query in our data base and notify you if another opportunity might arise…”
I hit the delete button and slouched into my chair. It wasn’t fair. I have been trying for two years to find full time work.
This email triggered buried, raw emotions and toxic thoughts began to swirl: “Why bother sending out another resume? It’s been two years of trying….why try anymore? This is going to be my life now. I’m underemployed and struggling…Why me, God? What did I ever do to deserve this?”
That’s when I realized it was time to blow that rescue whistle again. No, I couldn’t allow myself to sink into my self-pity- quicksand. I sent out my SOS, in the form of an email to a good friend; an intelligent, successful and beautiful woman who “gets it”. She’s been in my shoes and somehow made it through. I needed to email Cher Donovan Duncombe, the editor for BrooWaha and author of AskCherlock.
She was quick to reply and this was some of what she wrote:
“Waiting. That is the most difficult issue to deal with, I know. I have been “in the wilderness” and know exactly what you mean. I had come to believe that I would never come out of it….But that lovely pendulum did what it was supposed to do. It swung! That is why I can tell you with full confidence that it does happen. You are a woman of substance …of value. When you cannot believe in yourself, know that I do, and take some measure of that for sustenance. Just remember that the pendulum always swings the other way, and don’t despair. ”
Pendulum?
The word pendulum immediately made me think about a novel I had to read in seventh grade. Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, The Pit and the Pendulum, written in 1843, a suspenseful tale told in narrative form.
The narrator is “trapped” in a prison, sentenced to death at the time of the Inquisition. Upon receiving his death sentence, the narrator swoons and loses consciousness. When he wakes, he faces complete darkness. The reader is “caught” in the present with the narrator, unable to see his future or know how his story will end.
Isn’t that just like life?
We all go through hard times and during the “dark periods” we might feel trapped, all alone. It’s at these times that you need to fight those feelings of despair. Quitting should never be an option.
On the evening news, anchorman periodically report that the US economy is improving and jobs are on the rise. I feel angry when I hear this because sitting in my chair, it isn’t true. Three hundred people apply for that one job and it’s a numbers game; combined with who you know, timing and luck.
When work is hard to find, one has to find part time jobs, while waiting, in order to survive. But it’s a real struggle and the stress can be unbearable.
I decided to research and learn what the experts have to say on the topic of coping with stress. It was just published on Blogcritics.org , Facing Hard Times: 11 Natural Stress Busters.
Cher’s right. Waiting is the hardest part.
While I wait for my pendulum to swing, I need to discover what stress busters will work for me and maybe some of them might work for you.
Added Note:
Driving home from work yesterday, this song played on the radio…it reminded me that I am not alone and was the pep talk I needed to hear (just like the “rescue-email” I needed to read from Cher)
Rodney Atkins If You’re Going Through Hell Lyrics:
Well you know those times when you feel like
There’s a sign there on your back
That says I don’t mind if you kick
me, seems like everybody has
Things go from bad to worse
You think it can’t get worse than that
And then they do
You step off the straight and narrow
And you don’t know where you are
Used the needle of your compass, to sew up your broken heart
Ask directions from a genie in a bottle of Jim Beam
And she lies to you
That’s when you learn the truth
[Chorus]
If you’re goin’ through hell keep on going.
Don’t slow down if you’re scared. Don’t show it.
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there
I’ve been deep down in that darkness
I’ve been down to my last match
Felt a hundred different deamons breathin’ fire down my back
And I knew that if I stumbled I’d fall right into the trap
That they were layin’
But the good news is there’s angels
everywhere out on the street
Holdin’ out a hand to pull you back up on your feet
The one’s that you’ve been draggin’ for so long
You’re on your knees might as well be prayin’
Guess what I’m sayin’
[Chorus]
If you’re goin’ through hell keep on going
Don’t slow down if you’re scared don’t show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there
When you’re goin’ through hell keep on movin’
Face that fire walk right through it
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there
If you’re goin’ through hell keep on going
Don’t slow down if you’re scared don’t show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there
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