Dreams & plans wiped out
Everyday as I work, one part of my mind focuses on the work, the other does what I fondly call "dreamwalking".
Each day I plan many things: when to go food shopping for instance. Another frequent plan is when to pay off mortgage, loans and credit cards bill.
Often my mind goes furtherthan that and plans in minute detail of a dream holiday paid off with money from my job.
I myself would like to see Australia, my wife adores India, my daughter would love Italy (presumably for the shopping and beaches, she is teenager) & my footballing son would be desperate to go to Brazil.
My mind paints many happy images of the holidays.
But soon enough this happiness would morph into shock, anger & sadness.
* Money-tight times won't last forever.
A lifetime of dreams & plans wiped out in a sentence:
"We are sorry but you have been made redundant".
I heard a knock on the door. The local newspaper was delivered. Flicking through the job vacancy pages, I find there are not many. I switch on my computer and look for jobs online.
The beauty of a simple life.
There was another knock on the door. The postman had a wad of envelopes, amongst there some bills. I stared into the room thinking of how to pay these bills.
Suddenly , I saw an item left intact in a corner of the room, still looking exactly the same as it had been first bought.
A series of thoughts flickered. What is the need of various possesessions? What's the point in them gathering dust? In this time of crisis it is sensible to get rid of unwanted clutter that wastes money & space. Why couldn't I sell these on eBay? Someone's junk is another man's treasure.
I made an eBay account and gradually I sold many unwanted possessions. I noticed two changes in myself and the house: the house is more tidy and spacious & reliesf that the money made paid bills while still looking for a job.
It also gave me an insight into living life simply, to know that you never know what's around the corner.
By: George Mitra
The forgotten one
As I celebrate my redundancy pay, I see my fellow workmate, reserved & quiet.
He tells me he feels justice has paled signigicantly.
A seed of doubt gnaws at my previous joy, now replaced with a sullen, questioning mood.
The leaders who negotiate compensation for the workers with high hopes shouldn't divide any rated pay workers.
Today's highly rated paid workers are tomorrow's cost competitive rate in the job market.
Workers high hopes were dashed by complicated situations caused by mistakes. The people with shared hopes should stand United, not Divided.
Create A Job For Yourself
by: Jim Taylor
Amidst all the doom and gloom being spouted about the economy at the moment, I'd like to offer a ray of hope.
Redundancy, although feared by most people, can just as easily be the proverbial kick up the bum many of us need to escape from the "comfort trap" we're stuck in.
About 15 years ago I got made redundant.
My response was to start my own business - something I never would have done otherwise.
I'd always had an interest in drawing but confined it to my local Artists' Society.
Often one or other of the members would "sit" for anyone who fancied painting their portrait.
I'd never tried portraits before but I gave it a go and found I was quite good at it.
Copying photos of people soon became a hobby.
At the time I had a "proper job" and sometimes workmates would ask me to paint their children or grandchildren.
I hardly charged anything - maybe just enough to cover materials.
People used to say "You're wasting your talents working here. Why don't you paint professionally?"
Very easy to say.
But when you've a mortgage to pay and 2 young children to support it's not easy to sacrifice a guaranteed salary.
So I carried on as normal - until the "R-word" reared its ugly head.
I was scared but I did it anyway.
I set myself up as a portrait painter working from customers' photographs.
Working for myself brought several benefits.
No boss breathing down my neck telling me what to do.
I could decide when and how to do my work instead of clock-watching.
And I'd escaped all the office politics and inefficiency.
But the thing I REALLY, TRULY appreciated more than any other was the absence of that twice daily travel to and from work.
First in the morning, then again in the evening.
Looking back I realised how I'd HATED that long bumper-to-bumper, 45 minute crawl to travel about 3 miles through rain, hail, snow and fog.
Noone could begin to understand how grateful I was to be free from all that.
The other thing I remember vividly about "going it alone" is difficult to explain.
It's a feeling that somehow you won't be accepted in your new role.
Or is it that you don't accept yourself in your new role?
You don't feel like a "real" person.
I remember seeing a very famous film star being interviewed on TV.
He said he was glad to be rich and famous but couldn't really understand WHY he was.
And he was sure that some day he'd get "caught out" as a fraud because anyone else in the world could do what he does.
That's kind of how I felt.
When you have a JOB it's easy to think of yourself as a sales clerk or heating engineer or postman...
Someone else has said that's what you are so you believe it.
When you're self-employed it's vitally important to believe you're good enough for people to pay you for what you do.
Your customers will believe that you are what you say you are.
It's important that you do too.
Now, when someone asks me what I do for a living, I'm quite happy to say I draw cartoons.
Because that IS what I do.
When you start up in business you have an idea what you want to offer.
But it's important to remain flexible and let customers point you in the right direction.
For example, I started out painting Child Portraits, then I added Wedding Portraits.
A customer asked if I could paint their dog, so I added Pet Portraits.
For some fun and creativity I started to draw Cartoon Portraits and a lady asked me to add a birthday greeting.
Then another customer wanted an appropriate gift for a 1st Wedding Anniversary.
The official material for a 1st Wedding Anniversary is PAPER - making a cartoon drawing IDEAL.
So customers have guided me through Child Portraits, Wedding Portraits, Pet Portraits, Birthday Cartoons and 1st Wedding Anniversary gifts.
Who knows where they'll lead me next?
Always listen to your customers.
They know what they want better than you do.
I hope I've managed to make my message of hope heard over all the doom and gloom.
Yes, times are hard but you don't have to roll over and die.
If you are redundant and can't find a job, perhaps you can create one for yourself.