You are not alone. I'm in it too. I have been unemployed for almost a year without any source of income. Luckily I have my parents to help me but I constantly feel guilty that I have to put them through this. I cry every times I thought about the hard work they are doing to support me. Sometimes I feel like it is hopeless and things are never getting better. All my friends work and they don't understand what we are going through.

I wrote a post on here to vent my feelings and it helped me feel a little better. Getting my feelings out to someone who can understand where I'm coming from makes me feel like I'm not alone.

But I think these situations are one of those times when God/universe is telling us we need to change our life to adapt to a new situation. We can't live our lives doing the same thing over and over and expect great things to happen.

I have been listening to audiobooks like Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, The Aladdin Factor, The Success Principles to gain some motivations. You can search it up on youtube and listen for free or I can show you where to download it. But the main points of all those book are visualise what you want. It's kind of like praying but you pray for the positive things you want to enter your life. Check them out. There are a lot of positive stories that can improve your mood.

May I suggest on adopting a pet? Take a dog out for a walk to the park or cuddle with a cat on the couch. I heard that cuddling stimulate a happy hormone. And the happier you are, the more positive things you attract in your life. Trying anything at least once right?

Well, whatever you do, you're a strong person!

What a huge shock! The least they could do was to pay you severance and you'll have unemployment. Keeping your appearance up is a win-win situation. You'll feel better, it's something to plan, to do. Improves mood. Taking care of yourself with a little extra needed attention and it projects outward. You never know who you might meet in your day, networking is effective when you look job ready. I have stayed in my apartment and cried, it's very lonely and you can't see anything positive. I'd suggest going to the library, to the park. Anything to get out, it might spark an idea you have, you might see something intriguing or interesting. Get out of the hopeless rut. If possible find others in your area. I volunteered with others who were unemployed, and my age range, We compared notes, told our hard luck stories, encouraged one another and cheered each other on when interviewing. I wish you luck! Hang in there

Thank you guys for such support. I did receive serverance pay for 6 months which is a blessing however it ended Friday, 10/7. I applied Friday for a job I held part time in medical collections and just got a dear john letter from that company. I will take your suggestions but I am so very down. I'm have 3 strikes against me , age, race and female but I know God is in it all. I so feel better in knowing that my emotional swings are shared by others. I can't afford a dog or pet at this time is I am too unstable funds wise. Sometime I just feel like giving up but I refused to quit. I am going to keep plugging away as I will now start being on unemployment which is also a blessing for me right now. Let's keep each other uplifted and I am crying as I write this. It is so hard...love and Peace

I'm glad we have this forum and each other. Emotional support is needed. I held back from my family and friends the tears and frustrations I've felt. Age and gender specific support is necessary because it's not addressed in job interviews, it can't be. They can't say it, they can't say we are not hiring you because you are old or even old (er) or because you are female, but they do discriminate. I had an interview with a hiring manager half my age saying they're looking for hip, and cool.

I visualize refusing to quit as a long walk that is needed to get to or from somewhere. I am incredibly tired, I can't take one more step. I sit down and rest. Next thought, I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. Okay, I'll stay here. I sit down and rest. I'll keep staying here. I ask myself, what are you going to do. What is going to happen if I stay here. I'll just be sitting on the side of the road.

If you can get out to free places where you might find other people your age, or interests. Find other who share your faith and find comfort there. Volunteering gets your mind off your situation. and helping people is a great feeling for us and it is something we can give. I felt that I wasn't able to do anything positive. Libraries have classes in some of them, I took a computer basics class at one with a few others. It was somewhere to go, it was free, it was social. Free museum days. You don't have to buy anything at grocery stores, malls, shopping centers to go.


Uplifting is someone pulling us to our feet and saying, lets go together!
Please know that you are not alone!

So glad for your words of inspiration. I just filed for my first unemployment. I am debating about moving home to be around my family, but moving from Texas to Kansas City can be expensive. I just keep looking for work, first of all praying. I am so happy for this support group. I so often feel confused and lost as what to do with my life. Love and Peace all...

I'm glad we have somewhere to go for inspiration and discussion about unemployment. Comparing benefits in those two states might help in your decision. Being closer to family might help you focus on what you want to do. It's hard to think when you're feeling confused. I figure it will come to me when it's ready to present itself. Your 32 years is going to count, you've got a solid career work history. I felt better getting outside and up from applying online. I looked for advertisements by companies that accept walk in resumes, & applications. I get inspiration from times in my life I have given up and what did I do or think. I had such an incident along the roadway, it taught me that I don't have to figure out what to do I need to get up and keep going.
If I could see back then when I was unemployed what I am doing now, I would keep going. I think of THAT and the possibilities. Wish you a speedy first unemployment check!

I'm glad to see you both looking at your options positively. Just remember that we should always continue to learn and improve ourselves. Doing just that will open up more opportunities.

I told Keon that I wanted to start my own business and she told me to take some entrepreneur classes to get started. Thank to her advice, I just talked to an entrepreneur who has been in the business 20+ years. He has a large network of people working for him and businesses that totaled to more than $200 mil. He told me that the first thing I should do is to make a 3, 5, and 10 year plan. This will give me an objective to work toward to. It should contains how I want to make an income, how my daily schedule looks like, what kind of love life do I have, where do I want to live, etc. Once you have what you want, you can reverse-engineer to how you would get there.

I'm half way through my 5 year plan and I feel really good about my future. I can see that the hard stuffs can be broken down to smaller stuffs that's more manageable. I'm not letting how my situation bother me right now because I have a future to look forward to. I know that cliche but it's something.

You should try it out. It wouldn't hurt to spend 15-30 minutes making it and you get a kick out of what you really want in your life. Here's a link I googled to get started: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10072/how-to-figure-out-where-you-want-to-be-in-5-years

Good advice ashKetchup to break down what is hard into smaller parts. I don't know what my 3, 5 or 10 year plan would be. Right now all I can think about is making enough to cover my bills, and needing immediate income. 5 years in my future, I'll be close to semi retirement age. All I can think about now is holding on until then, and I may have other options at that time. I'm considering now what I can do until then, and these ideas you have will be in the mix I'm thinking about.

Hopentx, up until recently, I was depressed and lost hope. If you can't see any hope, others might, or may be able to see what you can't. Getting out of your home and with other people was the best thing for my mood, and got my mind off the job search. It's all I thought about, talked about. I was tired of talking and thinking about it. Sales/store clerks, bank tellers, pharmacy employees and others who work where we may shop are also great sources of conversation if we don't know many people or live away from the ones we know. Cafe and restaurant workers,. They smile, say hello. It would cheer me up, a recognition that I am here, that lost feeling may be helped by that, it did for me. Good luck!