Found

Finally! I have received an offer for full time employment with a non-profit. Their mission is helping people and changing lives for the under privilege and the disabled. It has been a long journey for me of seeking meaningful work through an organization or self-employment.

Perseverance. Not giving up even when there are times when you want to.

I kept working as an independent contractor for small businesses while sending out resumes for full time work. There were numerous interviews and rejections which at times led to feelings of lack of self-confidence and an enormous amount of stress due to the lack of income.

It is our egos that lead us down the path toward unworthiness and depression. Move forward one foot in front of the other, keep your mind busy with learning and gaining new skills as well as enjoying a walk or exercise and time with people close to you. It does take time sometimes a bit too much time however you will get there with perseverance and patience and faith.

Success

A Strong Foundation

Do you have a strong foundation? I am not talking about your house. I am talking about your belief in yourself.

I was thinking about this during my morning routine. If you believe you are a good person, you will consistently be compassionate and giving to all beings even yourself. Your heart will lead you to do the right thing.

I try to follow that thinking or as someone told me “take try out, you are a good person”. I care about people, maybe a little too much which has at times not been good. For example, instead of listening to my heart and saying no to something or someone I have wound up in a bad mental, physical or financial mess. Has that ever happened to you?

Looking back I can see my mistakes. I need to stand up for myself and listen to my gut. When I feel “no” in my gut I should say it instead of feeling like I have to be what the other person wants me to be. Stand true to yourself and keep your foundation strong. Sure there are times when you need to be flexible but you need to have a strong foundation.

Fear leads to Discomfort

The house I live in/rent is going up for sale next month. Very sad :(, I love this house. It is very comfortable and in a beautiful area and they let me pay what I can afford.

The owners want to sell it. I’m in a terrible position as I do not earn enough money to pay full rent in another place. This is the first time in my life that I don’t earn enough to pay full rent.

I lay awake trying to figure things out. I have filled out applications for low income housing and have been told there is a 3 – 5 year wait list. I have applied for Section 8 housing – again a wait list. I don’t have that kind of time to wait.

I need to make more money. I have been working as an independent contractor assisting a couple of clients with office administration and accounting. I have been looking for another client, more work would help and I have been searching for full time work. Nothing yet.

Fear has a way of making you want to crawl into bed and wait until the problem goes away. Just doing nothing keeps you stuck. My mind is turning trying to find a solution. Win the lottery – oh I need to buy a ticket. Marry a rich man – I need to be dating.

I keep saying I need to send out flyers or postcards to solicit companies for business. I have not done it yet. Now that I have written that – I need to kick myself in the butt and get moving! Any suggestions??

Hard of Hearing Resources

I am hard of hearing.  I started losing my hearing quite a few years ago.  I was in my 30’s when I started hearing/feeling a flutter in my ears, like a bug was flying around in it.  It was disturbing but it was intermittent and I never went to a doctor for it.

When I was 50 I hit my head pretty hard on the corner of the kitchen counter.  Around this same time my mother passed away unexpectedly I also started menopause. I started to have problems hearing people speak especially if more than one person was speaking.  It was most difficult hearing people on the phone especially soft voices as well as hearing people in a conference room.

I made an appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor who took some tests, asked some questions and looked into my ears.  I have an autoimmune disease – it has caused my hearing lost and tinnitus.  I wear hearing aids and although they help I still have a difficult time hearing in certain situations.  It is especially difficult on land line telephones, in noisy restaurants and anywhere there is any loud music or background noise.

I use captioning on the television as it helps for the words that I may miss and prefer people email or text me instead of talking on the phone.  This makes it difficult in the business world as there is so much work that gets done on the phone or at meetings.

I have spent time searching for jobs that do not require any phone work and do work as an independent contractor where I do not answer the phones.  I do not make enough as an independent contractor to pay all living expenses so I keep searching for full time work.

The resources that I have found have been through my own research. Sadly, no doctors, audiologists or Department of Rehabilitation has provided me with any resource list.

I found the Hearing Loss Association (HLAA) advertised in a little pamphlet of classified ads called the Penny Saver.  The Hearing Loss Association has chapters in different areas.  There are meetings once a month that usually have a speaker that offers information on hearing loss by doctors, audiologists, and information about hearing aids and assistive technology.  Usually the meetings are attended by older individuals that have mainly lost hearing with age not the same as my situation.  However the speakers have been informative and everyone speaks up and knows why you are there – it is a comfort not to feel like you are the only one dealing with hearing loss.

Resources:

Job Accommodation Network (JAN.org) – has a lot of information for people with disabilities, “JAN is a free consulting service designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities”.

Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) – this has a list of association & organizations; it is a resource through JAN.org

Hearingloss.org

American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA.org)

Hearing Health Matters (HearingHealthMatters.org) – Blog from HoHs, sharing hearing difficulties

Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT)

Unemployment led me to Dept. of Rehabilitation and they introduced me to a career coach or counselor. She looks for full time work for me however she looks at the same websites as I do and has no connections with employers that hire Hard of Hearing or people with disabilities.

SWOT – an online club of HoHs and deaf

I hope this helps someone and if anyone has any resources they would like to share, please do. Thank you

Wildlife Park

Wildlife should be wild

A woman was killed by a lion while at a wildlife park in Africa. Sad that the woman was killed however…

The sign at the entrance of the zoo read, “Keep your windows closed” as you drive through the zoo. Her door windows were open. Why did she not heed the warning?

It is not the lion’s fault that she did not obey the sign. It is not the lion’s fault that it was protecting it’s young. It is not the lion’s fault that humans think it is okay to catch wildlife, keep them caged up or fenced up so people can stare at them and make money off of them.

Greed kills!

On Aging

After I reached my fifties my body and parts started changing. It was like waking up one day and my skin was starting to sag, more fine lines and hair on the face, the top of my hands are drier and are starting to look like elephant skin.

Our bodies change as we age but we are never prepared for that day when we look in the mirror and see a person that has aged over night but has some resemblance to you.

I started to feel a few aches and pains that I did not notice before, but now I not only notice I do not move quite as quick. Bones creak and crack and the joints are not quite as limber as they use to be.

I stretch every day, try to walk as much as possible and continue to do crunchies, sit ups, push ups…just not as many or as fast as I use to.

Aging is a part of life but I always thought I had more time before my body would show it.

One day it just happens

Lifting You Up

How do you stop the self-defeating talk? How do you start each day?

I have a book “Daily Calm”.  It is filled with inspiring quotations and illustrations that are yes inspiring and the photographs are beautiful of course because it is from National Geographic.

It sits on my desk where I can reach for it easily and it is compact (6″ x 6 1/2″) so it does not take up a lot of room but what is inside is huge and marvelous. The quotations are from famous and wise people. The quotes give you a sense of compassion, perspective and beauty.

Today’s quote:

“Everything deep is also simple.” Albert Scweitzer

I hope you have a beautiful day!

More

*This is not the illustration from the book.

Thinking about you

I was thinking about this blog and what to write. What do you want to read about?  I realized I have not been written in awhile and that I am feeling a lot of pressure to keep up with this blog.

I try to write once a week but between the work I do, the blogs (3 in all) and recently my taxes, house work, yard work – you know daily life is taking up a lot of my time.  I also have not made any headway to a life full of meaning.

I try to meditate in the morning before getting out of bed and at night before I go to sleep.  I close my eyes and try to stay focus on nothing.  Do not let that that voice creep in telling me the things I need to take care of, thoughts of “what is it I am suppose to do with my life?”.  Instead I try to stop the voice and think of nothing – Hush the noise.  Sit in silence. Be still.

This is work.  Some people seem to meditate with ease and have “AHA” moments come to them.  I have not had that happen.  Or great ideas of how to re-invent themselves.  That has not happened to me, just as this blog has not taken off with hundreds of readers.

So from now on I’ll only write when I have something of interest to say or when I really have a need to write what is within me.  Or who know maybe when I am meditating I will have a transformative experience and knows exactly what to do with myself.  Until then Treat everyone with respect and have a happy life!

Get Organized with Spring Cleaning

For many years I have loved getting my house organized. From the kitchen to the bathroom, to the bookshelves to my office – a place for everything reduces your stress, reduces the amount of time you have to look for something and helps you spend more time enjoying the things you love.

I have worked in many offices and seen paper work take up the majority of the space. This is happening less often because of technology. Computers have all the documents at our fingertips.  You may still need a hard copy once in awhile.  Setting up filing systems in the computer and in a file drawer is a necessity.

Sort through files and write down each category that you want to set up files for.  Not just where you want to file it but the category you will go to when you need it.  This is true for both hard copies and in your computer.

Once you have written down all the categories you can start to make folders.  Once you have the folders, you want to go through each file and decide 1) what you need to keep, 2) what you can recycle and 3) what to shred.

This is a great way to start to get rid of clutter.  It may take you a couple of hours or it may take a few days, it depends on how much you have.  This can lead to finding items you thought you lost, it can lead to finding the name and phone number or email you need to contact.  Do not contact that person while you are sorting and organizing.  You want to create a file for To Do’s and put it there.  When you start working on your To Do List is when you will grab that folder and contact that person.

Another way to get organized is to have a binder of important information such as emergency numbers, professional contacts such as lawyers, accountants, etc.  You can add your insurance information, medical information, even goals and a plan to get to those goals.

Go ahead start your spring cleaning. Take one room at a time, stay focused and your results will be an organized home with more time for fun!

A couple of resources:

Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern  http://www.juliemorgenstern.com/

The One Thing Book for Home or Business by Linda Easton www.ExtraordinaryOrganizing.com

What are ways that have helped you and kept you organized?  Please let me know if you liked or have comments.

Time to get organized!

Barricade to Beautiful Green Belt

The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany from 1961 to 1989. Families were separated and were not able to communicate or see each other. It was a terrible reminder of freedom taken away from the people living in East Germany.

It is hard to believe that something so awful – a brick wall, concrete piled high complete with guard towers and soldiers with rifles, could be changed into a beautiful area of trees, flowers and green grass; where people walk, bike, run and play with no restrictions.

Earth911 features an article on the changes that have taken place since the Berlin Wall was removed.  Today where the Wall was there is “870 miles of natural habitat”. http://www.earth911.com/inspire/former-german-divide-now-green-belt-sanctuary/

How wonderful for East Germany to have natural beauty to look at and appreciate.  Change has been for the better and hopefully it will remain a place for everyone to enjoy and a remembrance of how precious freedom is.